


Steven, Son of Odin

by Wordsplat



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Hercules - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-07
Updated: 2013-01-02
Packaged: 2017-11-18 04:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordsplat/pseuds/Wordsplat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hercules/The Avengers AU, starring Steve as a demigod with miraculous strength and a point to prove, Fury as his reluctant trainer, and Loki as a scheming god of the underworld. Tony, for the record, is not a damsel, is not in distress, and he can handle himself just fine without Mr. Rippling Pectorals over there, thank-you-very-much. Though, admittedly, the view is nice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

"Long ago, in the far away land of Ancient Greece, there was a golden age of powerful gods and extraordinary heroes, and the greatest and strongest of all these heroes was the mighty Steven. But what is the measure of a true hero? Now, that is what our story is abou-"

"Would you listen to him?" Natasha complained, "He's making the story sound like some Greek tragedy."

"I mean really, lighten up," Bruce nodded in agreement. They were on Mount Olympus, watching Jasper Sitwell, god of something or the other-possibly boredom-was telling a group of bored teenage demi-gods the story of Steven.

"We'll take it from here," Maria smirked, sauntering over and patting Sitwell on the shoulder.

"Fine, you try and make it entertaining, then," Sitwell huffed, and Maria accepted the challenge.

"We are the Muses," she looked out to the teenagers, "God and goddesses of arts, and proclaimers of heroes."

"Heroes like Steven," Bruce added.

"Our story actually begins long before Steven, many eons ago. Back when the world was new, and the planet Earth was down on it's luck," Maria started.

"Gigantic brutes called Chitauri roamed the Earth, and it was a nasty place," Natasha shook her head, "There was a mess wherever you stepped, and hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes ruled."

"And then, while Odin slept, Thor stepped in and hurled his thunderbolts," Bruce explained, "He locked the Chitauri up in a vault deep underground, trapping them away forever. Thor tamed the globe, and finally, life on Olympus was smooth."

"Then, Odin and Frigga bore another child, Steven…"


	2. Chapter 2

Steven had just been born, and all of Mount Olympus was in celebration. Thor, first born of Odin and Frigga and now a full grown god, was celebrating with his friends, Lady Sif and the warriors three. Odin made his rounds with the other gods, talking and chatting away, while Frigga put Steven down in his baby carriage of clouds.

"Steven," Frigga chided as the bouncing baby tugged on her hair, "Settle down, child."

"Oh, look at this, look how cute he is! Hey there, cootchie coo," Thor announced, walking up to his new baby brother, and wiggling his finger in the baby's face. Steven grabbed his finger and yanked, throwing him up in the air. The god could float of course, so he just laughed, "He's strong, like father."

"Whoop! Scuse me, hot stuff here, comin' through," the goddess of speed and official messenger of Olympus, Darcy, ducked and weaved through the crowd, her winged sandals flapping away, "Careful there, on your left, Sif."

She flew right up and presented Frigga with a bouquet of flowers.

"Why, Darcy, they're lovely," Frigga smiled, accepting them graciously.

"Yeah, y'know, I had Orpheus do the arrangement, you know how he gets," Darcy grinned back, then flew over to Thor, "Fabulous party, big guy. Haven't seen this much love in a room since Narcissus discovered himself."

She gestured a thumb over to Narcissus, who was admiring himself in a mirror as per usual. Thor chuckled, and neither of them noticed Steven reaching into Thor's back pocket to pull out one of his brother's thunderbolts. He fiddled with it a moment, waving it around.

"Dear," Frigga chided her eldest son, pointing to the thunderbolt Steven was playing with, "Keep those away from your brother."

"Oh, mother, he won't hurt himself-"

It was of course at that moment that Steven munched down on the bolt, zapping himself. Upset, he threw the thunderbolt away with astounding strength. The bolt zagged across the room between guests, until Lady Sif deflected it with her sword, sending the bolt off into one of the cloud columns. The room laughed, and Odin took that moment to thank the guests.

"On behalf of my son, I want to thank you all for your wonderful gifts," he announced, gesturing to the obscenely large pile of shining gifts in the corner.

"What about your gift, dear?" Frigga reminded Thor.

Thor looked blank and embarrassed, clearly having forgotten, but after a moment's pause, he grinned and swept some nearby clouds to him.

"Let me see here, hmm, yes, a little cirrus, and, ah, yes, a touch of nimbostratus, and a dash of cumulus!" Thor presented the final product, a winged, horse-shaped cloud puff-ball, to his baby brother.

Steven reached out and grabbed at it eagerly, then startled as the clouds poofed away when he touched it to reveal a real pegasus. The pegasus sneezed, sniffed at Steven, falling out of Thor's hands only to have his wings work and fly him back up to sniff at Steven some more. Steven giggled, grabbing the pegasus and knocking skulls with it excitedly. The pegasus seemed just as excited, grinning back and licking Steven's face before snuggling up with him. The crowd collectively awed.

"His name is Phil, and he is all yours, brother," Thor smiled proudly.

Frigga, pleased with her son's gift, passed baby Steven over to Thor while Phil escaped Steven's death grip long enough to test his wings. Thor's eyes widened a little, clearly nervous about holding such a small child, but he took Steven carefully in his arms.

"Mind his head," Frigga reminded, but nodded at Thor's acceptable baby-holding.

"He's so tiny," Thor murmured, and Steven just giggled up at him while munching on his neck medallion. The baby yawned, and Thor smiled, lowering Steven back into his cloud cradle where he could rest.

"My boys," Frigga smiled softly.

"How sentimental."

There was a collective gasp from the room as Loki, god of the dead, appeared.

"My, I haven't been this choked up since I had something caught in my throat. Eh? Eh. Is this an audience, or a mosaic?"

He strode in, pinching cheeks and patting arms as he went, the others shivering away from his touch and casting sneers at him. Only one person was excited.

"Loki!" Thor beamed, crossing the room in a flash and pulling his brother into a hug, "You made it, brother! How are things in the underworld?"

He clasped a large hand on Loki's shoulder, and the smaller man almost collapsed under the weight. He gave a disdainful sneer, removing Thor's hand.

"Well, they're just fine. Perhaps a little dark, a little gloomy…and of course, hey, full of dead people, but what're you gonna do? Ah, there's the little sunspot," Loki caught sight of Steven now, and crossed over to the baby's cradle, "Here's a sucker for the little sucker, eh?"

He gave Steven a rather spiky rattle, but instead of grabbing the rattle, Steven grabbed at Loki's thin fingers, gripping them tightly with a giggle. Loki winced, yanking his hand away with a little trouble, while Phil twirled and snorted with laughter in the air.

"Eesh, powerful little tyke," Loki grumbled.

"Come, brother, don't be such a stiff," Thor grinned, gripping him in another too-tight hug, "Join the celebration!"

"Hey, love to," Loki slipped out of Thor's grip, "But unlike you gods lounging about up here, I regrettably have a full-time job that you so charitably bestowed on me,  _brother,_ so, can't. Love to, but can't."

"You out to slow down, Loki, you'll work yourself to death," he paused, a long beat before he realized his words. Then, he guffawed loudly, "Ha! 'Work yourself to death'! Oh, I kill myself!"

The other gods joined in his laughter, while he collapsed in a cloud chair, amused with himself. Loki just curled a lip, walking away with a dark look.

"If only…if only."

* * *

" _Now," Natasha warned, "If there's one god you don't want to get steamed up, it's Loki."_

" _He had an evil plan…" Bruce shook his head._

" _He ran the underworld," Maria explained, "Guarded the dead. He was as mean as he was ruthless, and he had a plan to shake things up._

* * *

"Barton!" Loki demanded, shouting for his servants as soon as he stepped foot back across the Stix river that divided the living world from the underworld, "Selvig!"

"Coming, your most depressed-ness," Clint Barton came down the stairs, a short, bony green demon with a quick mouth and the ability to shapeshift. Quick to follow was Erik Selvig, a short, fat pink demon with the same ability.

"Reporting for duty," Selvig nodded to Loki.

"Let me know the instant the Other and Thanos arrive."

"Oh," Selvig blinked, "They're here."

" _What?"_ Loki exclaimed, the usually calm blue fire that made up his hair bursting up into bright red flames, "They're here and you didn't  _tell me?!"_

Clint and Selvig, duly terrified, backed away.

"We're mere worms!" Clint wailed, both he and Selvig using his shapeshifting powers to turn into just that, "Worthless worms!"

"Memo to me," Loki took a steadying breath, rubbing his forehead at both their incompetency and dramatics, "Memo to me, maim you after my meetings."

Clint and Selvig just glanced at each other worriedly, while Loki swept off to meet with the Other and Thanos.

"Hold that mortal's thread of life good and tight," Thanos instructed the Other.

He wielding a pair of scissors, and snipped the thread without preamble. A wailing shriek could be heard echoing throughout the cavern they were meeting in, and Thanos smiled in satisfaction.

"Incoming!" the Other smirked as the soul of the departed woman wafted in through the ceiling, past Loki as he entered and through the portal to hell.

"Thanos, Other, I am so very sorry that I'm-"

"Late," they answered in unison.

"We knew you would be," Thanos announced.

"We know everything," the Other agreed.

"Past."

"Present."

"And future," Thanos nudged Selvig with a wink, "Indoor plumbing. It's gonna be big."

"Great, great," Loki nodded, "Anyway, see, I was at this party and I lost track of-"

"We know," the answered in unison.

"I know,you know," Loki waved his hands, "So. Here's the deal: Odin. Mr. High and Mighty, Mr. Hey You Get Off Of My Cloud, now he has a-"

"Bouncing baby brat, we know," they answered, once again in unison.

"I  _know!_ You know!" Loki exploded, his hair growing red hot like wildfire before he cooled himself down again, "I know, I understand, I understand the concept. My question is, will this child interfere with my bid for Odin's throne?"

"In eighteen years precisely, the planets will align, and the time to act will be at hand," Thanos replied, "Unleash the Chitauri, and the once-King Odin and his proud son Thor shall finally fall, and you will have your rule."

"Yes!" a wild look took over Loki's eyes, and blue fire danced around him.

"A word of caution, to this tale…" the Other warned.

"What?" Loki froze.

"Should Steven fight, you will fail," Thanos finished.

With that, the two disappeared, leaving Loki stunned and alone.

" _WHAT?!"_ Loki's rage exploded into vicious red fire that lashed out around him. He quickly recalled himself, "Okay, fine, fine, I'm fine."

He stalked out of the room, muttering and plotting to himself. He made his way down to his treasure room, then turned to his minions.

"Barton. Selvig. I have a little riddle for you: how do you kill a god?"

"I do not know!" Clint declared enthusiastically.

"You can't," Selvig added, "They're immortal."

"Bingo," Loki smiled wickedly as he plucked a single vile of pink liquid from it's pedestal, "They're immortal. So first you have to turn the little sunspot…mortal."

* * *

Late that night, Odin and Frigga heard a loud crash and the sound of a baby crying, and startled awake. By the time they raced to Steven's room, however, it was too late; Phil had been stuffed in a jar and Steven's cradle was empty. Frigga burst into tears, and Odin's wrathful roar could be heard across the heavens. Thor stumbled in after them, taking in the scene of his crying mother, furious father and the empty cradle and making the connection. His breath quickened, his fists clenched, and the sky darkened in response.

Flying away from the scene with baby Steven in hand, Selvig turned to Clint.

"Oh  _now_ we did it!" he glanced up to the thundering sky above them, catching sight of the lightning crackling overhead, "Even Thor's found out now! Oh gods, he's going to use us for target practice!"

"Just hang onto the kid, would you?" Clint snapped, right as they crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. The baby bounced against the ground and began wailing, while Selvig continued to panic.

"Let's just kill the kid and get it over with already!" he shushed at the child, while gesturing hurriedly at Clint to produce the bottle.

"Here ya go, kid," Clint slapped a nipple on the vial and shoved it into Steven mouth, "A little Grecian formula."

"Look at that!" Selvig exclaimed as Steven's skin began to shift, slowly changing from a godly glow to a dull mortal skin tone, "He's changing! Can we do it now?"

"No, no, he has to drink the whole potion, every last drop."

"Who's there?" a voice called out, startling the two demons.

They quickly scampered off behind a rock, dropping both the baby and bottle. Steven began crying and the bottle shattered against the ground, the very last drop of poison dripping harmlessly into the earth.

A man and woman turned the corner, the man gesturing to the woman.

"Over here!"

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed, dropping to the ground and scooping up the child, "You poor thing! Oh, don't cry…"

"Is anyone there?" the man called out, waving the torch he carried as light around in the air.

From behind their hiding rock, Selvig turned to Clint.

"Now?"

"Now."

They snuck out, shapeshifting into large snakes as they did. They snuck forward, hissing and seeking out the baby Steven.

"Why, he must have been abandoned," the man frowned, examining the child in his wife's arms with concern.

"Abraham…" she murmured, glancing at the gold medallion around the baby's neck. It had  _Steven_ inscribed on one side, and on the other was the symbol of the gods. She looked then to her husband, "For so many years we prayed for the gods to bless us with a child…do you think perhaps they've answered our prayers?"

"Perhaps they have…" the man, Abraham, nodded, smiling back at her, just as Clint and Selvig attacked.

Steven reached out, squirming out of the woman's arms and grabbing them round their necks. He giggled, waving them about and smacking them against the ground. They watched in shock and horror as the child displayed incredible strength, eventually tying the snakes together and tossing them far off into the distance.

Clint and Selvig groaned in pain when they smacked into a cliff, then shifted back into demons and disentangled themselves.

"Oh gods, oh gods," Selvig panicked, "What're we going to do? Loki is going to  _kill_ us when he finds out what happened!"

"You mean…" Clint corrected, a slow grin growing on his face, " _If_ he finds out what happened."

"Of course he's gonna-!" Selvig froze, then, nodding along with Clint, "If. If is good."

* * *

" _It was tragic," Maria shook her head, "Odin led all the gods in a frantic search…"_

" _But by the time they found the baby, it was too late," Bruce finished._

" _Young Steven was mortal now," Natasha explained, "The Erskines took him in as their own, but since he didn't drink the last drop of the potion he retained his god-like strength."_

" _Odin and Frigga wept, for their son could never come home," Maria continued, "They had to watch their precious baby grow up from afar. Though Loki's horrid plan was hatched before Steve cut his first tooth, the boy grew stronger every day…"_

* * *

The years flew by, and before anyone knew it, Steve was a scrawny eighteen year old. Scrawny though he looked, his strength had only grown, as was evidenced when Abraham and Steve made their weekly trip to the market.

"Steve!" Abraham shouted out a warning as he clutched the cart with a death grip, "Look out!"

"Sorry!" Steve flinched, steering the cart out of the way of bystanders and finally skidding to a stop in the middle of the square. He'd taken their donkey Penelope's place halfway there and run their cart all the way to the market at a speed that left Abraham's head dizzy.

"Thanks, son," Abraham sighed, "When old Penelope twisted her ankle back there, I thought we were done for."

"No problem," Steve smiled, already lifting the large stack of hay out of the cart with one hand, always helpful.

"Oh, don't unload just yet, I have to go finagle a deal with Phidias," Abraham gestured a thumb towards Phidias' shop, where he would sell their hay.

"Alright," Steve nodded, dropping the hay back on the cart. Though weighing little to Steve, the large amount of hay actually weighed quite a bit, and dropping it back in the back end of the cart launched Penelope off into the air.

"Whoops," Steve ducked his head in embarrassment, then called out, "Sorry Penelope!"

"Now, Steve, this time, please just-" Abraham began, but Steve knew the drill.

"I know, I know," Steve sighed, catching the shell-shocked donkey as she fell back to earth, "Stay by the cart."

"That's my boy," Abraham smiled, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately.

Steve tried to listen; he really did. He just couldn't help himself though when he saw one of the vendor's stumbling to hold up a large, rather expensive looking vase. What if he dropped it? Surely his father wouldn't mind if he just quickly helped the vendor out, then went right back to the cart, right? Right.

"Careful!" Steve warned, quickly going over and lifting up the other end of the vase.

"Oh, why thank you," the vendor, a man Steve recognized as Chester Phillips, sighed in relief.

"No problem," Steve leaned around the vase to smile at Phillips, who finally caught sight of him.

"Steve!" Phillips gasped, his thanks dying in his throat, "It's  _you."_

"Here, let me help you with that-"

"Oh, no, no," Phillips quickly yanked the vase away, though he was clearly struggling to hold it up, "I got it, I'm fine, you just run along."

"Are you…sure?" Steve asked dubiously as the man continued to struggle.

"Oh yes, totally fine!" Phillips shooed him out.

Steve trudged out, a little put out, just in time to see a discus land at his feet.

"Yo, give it here!" a guy Steve recognized as Gilmore Hodge ran up, then skidded to a stop when he saw Steve.

"Hey, need an extra guy?" Steve offered, holding out the discus.

"Nah, we, uh, we already got five, and we wanna keep it an even number."

"Hey, wait, five isn't an even-"

"See ya, Stevey!" Hodge took off with his buddies, and Steve heard them laughing as they ran off.

"What a geek!"

"Destructo-freak!"

Steve frowned, walking away to the fountain. It wasn't more than a minute later that the discus went spinning past him. Excited, Steve chased after it.

"I got it!" he called as he caught it, then, "Oof!"

The discus carried him right into a column, and he smashed into it with an impressive amount of force. The column began to wobble dangerously, and Steve quickly grabbed it, tried to right it. This only caused it to shake more, swinging around until he couldn't control it, and it smashed into the others. They fell over like dominoes, and Steve raced after them, trying to stop them before they collided together over Chester Phillips' shop. They thankfully stopped, and Phillips' shop was saved; until Steve slipped and slid right into Phillips, knocking him back into his stack of vases and causing the whole thing to come crumbling down in a cloud of dust.

"Nice catch, freak," Hodge growled, snatching the discus from Steve's hands as the dust cleared.

"Son…" Abraham approached Steve, unable to find words.

"This. Is the last. Straw!" Phillips' roared, bursting out of the rubble, "Abraham Erskine, that boy is a menace!"

"Yeah!"

"He's too dangerous to be around normal people!"

The crowd of market-goers chimed in, all of them agreeing.

"He didn't mean any harm, he's just a kid," Abraham tried to excuse, "He can't control his strength."

"I'm warning you," Phillips growled, "You keep that-that-that  _freak_ away from here!"

Steve hung his head in shame.

"Son, you shouldn't let those things they said back there get to you."

Abraham caught up with his son later, out on the hill by their house. He sat down next to Steve, only for Steve to stand, pull away from him.

"No, but they're right! I  _am_ a freak. I try to fit in, I really do…I just…can't. Sometimes I feel like…like I really don't belong here. Like I'm supposed to be someplace else," Steve's voice went quiet, softer, like he felt silly for saying so.

"Steve, son…" Abraham stood, placing a hand on his son's shoulders.

"I know it doesn't make any sense," Steve shook his head, pulling away again, "I just feel as if there's this place out there, waiting for me, if I'm only willing to go the distance."

Abraham sighed, knowing it was time.

"Steve…there's something your mother and I have been meaning to tell you."

* * *

"But if you found me…where did I come from?" Steve asked when they were back in the house, and his parents-his adoptive parents, he corrected himself-had finished explaining, "Why was I left here?"

His mother placed a gold medallion in his hands. He turned it over, and ran his fingers over the insignia; something in it stirred a strong connection in him, but he couldn't remember what.

"This was around your neck when we found you. It's the symbol of the gods," his mother murmured.

"That's it!" Steve shot to his feet excitedly, suddenly hopeful, "Maybe they have the answers! I'll go to the temple of Thor, and…"

He trailed off, looking back to the two most important people in his life, the people who had raised him as their own.

"Ma, Pop…you're the greatest parents anyone could have, but…I…I gotta know."

"Steven, just...promise me, son. Whatever happens on this journey of yours, you must promise me one thing: that you will stay who you are," Abraham stood, tapping his son on the chest with a smile, "Not perfect, but a good man."

"I promise, Pop."

They just smiled in return, nothing but happy for him, understanding in their eyes. Steve set off the next morning. He travelled all day and night across great plains and dark forests, steadily making his way to Thor's temple. When he finally made it, he knelt to the ground in respect before the impossibly large statue of the great god of thunder himself.

"Almighty Thor," he bowed his head turning over the gold medallion in his hands, "Hear me, and answer my prayer. I need to know…who am I? Where do I belong?"

A sudden wind blew in, and lightning struck the giant statue it came to life before his eyes. It blinked twice, before grinning with fondness and enthusiasm.

"My brother…little Steven!"

Steve could only stare in impossible surprise at the living statue before him. He turned to bolt, but the statue of Thor just reached down and scooped him up. Steve tried to squirm and get away, but Thor held him fast.

"What's this rush? After all these years, have you nothing to say to your elder brother?"

"B-brother?" Steve stuttered, poking out of Thor's stone hands.

"Didn't know you had a famous family, now did you?" Thor looked inordinately proud of himself for being the one to tell Steve, "Surprise! You're the son of Odin and Frigga, just like me. Look how you've grown. Why, you have mother's eyes, and father's chin!"

"I…I don't understand," Steve paused, clearly figuring something out, "If you're my brother…that would make me a…?"

"A god."

"A…god," Steve repeated, blown away, then, collapsing in Thor's hand, " _A god."_

"You wished for answers, brother, and by thunder, you're old enough to know the truth," Thor nodded seriously.

"But…why was I left on Earth?" Steve questioned, a kicked puppy look in his eyes, "Didn't they want me?"

"Of course they did!" Thor boomed, "Mother and father loved you dearly, as do I, and all the gods of Mount Olympus! But someone stole you from your bed one night and turned you mortal, and only gods can live on Mount Olympus."

"I can't do anything?"

"We can't, but you can."

"Really? What? I'll do anything!" Steve exclaimed.

"Steven, if you can prove yourself a true hero on Earth, then your godhood will be restored."

"A true hero! Great!" Steve nodded with enthusiasm, then, "Uh…exactly how do you become a true hero?"

"First, you must seek out Nicholas Fury, the trainer of heroes."

"Seek out Nicholas Fury, right, I'll-" Steve slipped right out of Thor's hand in his enthusiasm, "Whoa!"

"Hey, hold your horses," Thor quickly caught him, then, "That reminds me."

Thor whistled, loud and clear, enough to rattle Steve's ears. Then a bright light descended from the sky and in through the skylight above. The light became a winged horse, a pegasus, and Steve's eyes widened. It did some fancy flying, fluttering about and basically showing off until it landed next to Steve, nuzzling him happily.

"You probably don't remember Phil, but you two go way back. He never stopped watched you while you were growing up."

Phil continued nuzzling and sniffing at him until at last, satisfied that Steve was the real deal, bonking skulls with him. Steve blinked, taken aback a moment, then the memory rushed him.

"Phil!" Steve's eyes widened, and Phil gave what could only be called a grin as Steve embraced him, and he wrapped his wings around the god in training.

"He's a magnificent horse," Thor approved while Phil nodded and stood with his knees straight and ready at attention, like a soldier.

"I'll find this Nicholas Fury, and become a true hero!" Steve declared, hopping on Phil's back and taking off.

"That's the spirit!"

"I won't let you down, brother!" Steve promised as Thor gave them a little wind to propel them in the right direction.

"Good luck, brother," Thor smiled in answer, as thunder struck again and the statue returned to being just that.

* * *

Steve flew for days until at last he found the Island of Philoctetes, the island Nicholas Fury was supposed to live on. It was dark and misty, but Steve flew Phil in and they landed to search around. Steve caught sight of some nymphs laughing and washing up in a stream, and he was about to turn away when he caught sight of a goat's behind in the bushes nearby.

"What's the matter, little guy? You stuck?"

Steve pulled him out, and almost dropped it in surprise; it wasn't a goat, but a half goat, half man. He had an eyepatch over one eye, and seemed exceptionally angry as he swatted at Steve.

"Whoa! Hey, butt out, big guy!"

"Uh-" Steve began, but was cut off when Nick knocked him right over, causing the nymphs to hear them and scatter.

"Girls! No, stop, stop! Come back, come back, come back!" Nick raced around after them.

He caught up to one, only for it to turn into flowers.

"Fuck, damn, wait! Whoa whoa whoa!"

This one turned into a tree.

"Ah, nymphs. Can't keep their hands off me," he smirked, only to get swatted by one of the tree's branches.

He rubbed his bruised cheek angrily a moment, then turned to Steve with a glare.

"What's the matter, you never seen a satyr before?"

"Uh…" Steve looked the goat man up and down, "No. Can you help us? We're looking for someone called Nicholas Fury."

"Call me Nick," the satyr, Nick, shrugged.

"Nick!" Steve grinned, clasping his hand and shaking it perhaps a little harder than he meant to in his eagerness.

"Ow, fucking hell-"

"Boy, am I glad to meet you! I'm Steve. This is Phil!"

Phil walked right on up and licked Nick enthusiastically.

"Animals!" Nick groaned, "Disgusting."

"I need your help. I want to become a hero, true hero," Steve explained as they walked back to Nick's home, a cave with a wooden door.

"Sorry kid, can't help ya," Phil grunted, going in and slamming the door.

"Wait!" Steve grabbed for the door, accidentally pulling it off it's hinges.

"Uh, sorry," Steve had the decency to look embarrassed, then, "Why not?"

"Two words: I am retired!" Nick snatched back his door, while Steve counted on his fingers, then shook his head, no point in correcting the satyr.

"Look, I have to do this. Haven't you ever had a dream?"

Nick stopped short, leaning against the doorframe.

"Something you wanted so bad you'd do anything?" Steve pushed, and Nick gave in with a sigh.

"Kid, come inside. I want to show you something."

Steve quickly followed. The cave was much bigger on the inside, and filled to the brim with all sorts of knick knacks. Steve bumped his head against a wooden log, and Nick hastily called back.

"Hey, watch it! That was part of the mast of the Argo!"

" _The_ Argo?" Steve asked in wonder. That was the ship the great hero Jason had sailed.

"Yeah. Who do you think taught Jason how to sail, Cleopatra? I trained all those would-be heroes. Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus. A lot of 'yeuseus'," Nick huffed, spinning a painted discus that depicted Theseus in a fight, eventually losing, "And every single one of them let me down. Stomped flatter than a discus. None of them could go the distance."

Nick crossed the room to a large statue, gesturing to it while Steve could only look up in awe.

"And then, there was Achilles. Now there was a guy who had it all-the build, the foot speed. He could jab, he could take a hit, he could keep on comin'. But that fucking heel of his! He barely gets nicked there once and-" Nick flicked it then, and the statue cracked and shattered, collapsing into a million pieces. Nick continued, upset and still raging, "Kaboom! He's history."

Nick sighed then, seeming to pull himself back. He crossed the room again, pulling out a map of the stars.

"Yeah, I had a dream once. I dreamed I was gonna train the greatest hero there ever was. So great, the gods would hang a picture of him in the stars...all across the sky, and people would say, 'That's Nick's boy'."

Steve looked at the map, marveling to himself what that would be like. A picture in the stars, a constellation of him, like a true hero…

"Eh, but dreams are for rookies," Nick shook his head, stashing the map back away, "A guy can only take so much disappointment."

"But I'm different than those other guys, Nick!" Steve protested, shaking Nick by the arm, "I can go the distance. Come on, I'll show you."

He took Nick by the arm, hauling him outside to where a huge stone discus lay.

"Jeez, you don't give up, do you?" Nick just grunted.

"Watch this!" Steve assured him, bending down and hoisting up the stone discus.

He spun it around a few times, before letting it sail out across the ocean. Nick's jaw dropped, and he tilted his head to the side, as if he half expected it to come back.

"Holy Frigga…you know, maybe if I…" he seemed to wonder to himself a moment, then he shook his head quickly, "No! Snap out of it! I am too damn old to get mixed up in this stuff again."

He started stalk off, back to his cave, and Steve quickly blocked him, waving his hands to hold Nick back.

"But if I don't become a true hero, I'll never be able to join my father, Odin!"

"Hold it," Nick raised a hand, unable to surpress a laugh, " _Odin_ is your father?"

"Uh huh," Steve nodded, hoping this would get him into the satyr's good graces. Instead, Nick laughed and laughed.

"Odin? The big guy? He's your  _daddy?_ Ah ha ha! Oh gods! 'Read me a book, would you dada'? Then, Odin," Nick's version of Steve was a high pitched baby voice, then, a deep, gravelly voice for Odin as he pretended to read from a book, "'Once upon a time'-ah ha ha!"

He broke off, since he couldn't stop laughing enough to talk.

"It's the truth!" Steve protested angrily.

"Oh,  _please,_ " Nick rolled his eyes, "So you wanna be a hero, kid? Well, big fucking deal. I've been around the block before, with blockheads just like you. Every damn one's a disappointment, nothing but pain. You can claim to be 'Odin's kid' all you want, my answer is still-!"

He was interrupted by a crack of lightning, streaking down out of a cloudless sky and electrocuting him on the spot.

"…okay," Nick squeaked.

"You mean you'll do it?" Steve grinned widely, clapping Nick on the back.

"You win…" Nick coughed and groaned, shaking his head.

"You won't be sorry, Nick!" Steve high-fived Phil behind Nick, who was already walking away.

"And yet, I already am..."

"So when do we start? Can we start now?" Steve all but bounced with excitement.

"Of course I get the greenhorn," Nick groaned, then, "Look, you're not exactly a dream come true here, kid…but you're my last hope, so you'll have to do. First lesson: to be a true hero is a work of heart. It takes more than muscle, it comes down to what you're really made of. So let's see just what that is, huh?"


	3. Chapter 3

Steve spent the next three years on the Island of Philoctetes, training with Nick and Phil to become a true hero. They started by cleaning out the training fields, learning basic archery and sword skills, and general exercises like balance beams and endless push-ups. After that they moved on to rescuing damsels and running through obstacle courses. By the time the year was through, Steve was weaving through scissor blades on a rope, jumping through hoops of fire, and swinging his sword like a pro.

"Ha! Did ya see that, Phil?" Steve grinned as Phil swooped in after his latest successful run of the course, "Next stop, Olympus!"

"Alright, just take it easy there champ," Nick snorted as he followed after Phil.

"I'm ready! I want to get off this island, battle some monsters," Steve grinned, play wrestling with Phil, "Rescue some damsels, y'know, heroic stuff! Aw, c'mon, Nick!"

Nick paused, debating, while both Steve and that stupid horse of his shot him pleading looks.

"Okay, okay. You want a road test? Saddle up kid, we're going to Thebes!"

"Woo!" Steve cheered, head-bonking Phil, "We're going to Thebes, Phil!"

They hopped on Phil's back and took off across the ocean. About halfway there, Steve finally asked.

"So, why Thebes?"

"A lot of problems. It's a big tough town, good place to start building a reputati-"

Suddenly, they were cut off by the sound of a load roar.

"Hyah!" Steve urged Phil down to see what the commotion was about. They landed and searched, until they came through the shrubbery and into a clearing with a waterfall and shallow pool of water. A young man was thrown across the water then, and he collapsed with a grunt.

Steve was frozen a moment, completely captivated by the man. He was around Steve's age, twenty, maybe twenty-one. He was on the shorter side, with messy, tousled dark hair and an odd sort of goatee that looked sharpened his already very attractive features. He was extremely handsome, with high cheekbones, expressive brown eyes, and a hint of muscle visible on his lithe frame through his soaked clothing.

Then a large beast crashed into the pond, a blue-skinned half-horse half-man much larger than Phil or Nick. It snatched the young man up right out of the water, gripping him tightly around the waist in spite of his protests.

"Not so fast, sweetheart," the beast grinned.

"I swear, Tiberius, put me down or I'll-" the man began, growling fiercely.

"Whoo!" the beast, Tiberius, grinned widely. It was all teeth, and he was now hissing in the man's face. The man flinched away, "I like 'em fiery!"

In the bushes, Steve's eyes darkened, and he grit his teeth.

"Now, remember, kid," Nick instructed, oblivious to Steve's growing fury, "First, you analyze the situation. Don't just barrel in there without thinki-"

But Steve was gone from his side, already charging for Tiberius and the young man he held captive.

"He's losing points for this. Heroes," Nick grouched to Phil, crossing his arms with a huff, and Phil snorted his agreement, "They never listen."

"I said quit it, Tiberius, or I'll, I'll-" the captive man was struggling more anxiously now, almost pleading with Tiberius, while he struggling to avoid his attempts to kiss him and pull at his clothing.

"Halt!" Steve declared, interrupting them both.

Tiberius shot him a look, up and down. Then, he growled low and in Steve's face.

"Step aside, two legs."

"Pardon me, my good, uh…sir," Steve tried to be polite, clamping down on the furious anger building in him, "But I'll have to ask you to release that young-"

"Keep movin', junior," the man just dismissed him with a huff.

Wait, what?

"But…aren't you…" Steve waved a hand vaguely at the man's situation, "In distress?"

"I'm in distress," the guy wiggled, still struggling to escape Tiberius' iron grip, "And I can handle it," he wiggled again, then, even as it proved futile, he turned to Steve and flashed him a smile, flipping his hair out of his eyes in what was clearly a dismissal, "Have a nice day."

"Uh…" Steve paused, the man's admittedly charming smile momentarily throwing him off. Then, he drew his sword, "Sir, I'm afraid you may be too close to the situation to realize-"

Then Tiberius punched him, sending him flying across the pond and into the water with a splash.

"What're you doing, you idiot?!" Nick shouted from the sidelines, "Get your sword!"

"Sword! Right! Right, rule number fifteen, a hero's only as good as his," he finally grasped it underwater, and drew it with a triumphant shout, "Weapon!"

Okay, that wasn't his sword, that was a fish.

Tiberius burst into condescending laughter, and the young man in Tiberius' grip rolled his eyes. Tiberius socked Steve again, this time sending him straight into a rock. Even the young captive winced at that. Phil whinnied in dismay, moving to race to Steve's side, but Nick stopped him.

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, he has to do this on his own. He just needs a push," Nick shook his head, holding the upset pegasus back, then called to Steve, "C'mon, concentrate! Use your head!"

"Oh…" Steve murmured, an idea forming.

He charged across the water, gaining more and more speed until at last, he collided head-first with Tiberius. The force made the beast drop the young man in the water and go flying off into the waterfall, smashing into the rock wall behind it.

"All right, not bad, kid!" Nick called out encouragement, then, more quietly with a half-shrug to Phil, "Not exactly what I had in mind, but not bad."

At this point the young man Tiberius had captive surfaced out of the water, coughing wildly. Steve's eyes widened and he raced over, hoisting the man up out of the water and into his arms.

"Oh, gee, I'm really sorry, so sorry, that was dumb of me, wasn't it?" Steve apologized repeatedly, placing the man gently up on a rock formation that had the usually shorter man taller than Steve.

The man used this height for intimidation, narrowing his eyes down at Steve as he slicked his hair back out of his eyes with a grimace.

"Yeah. It was," then, the man paused, and with something that might have been amusement, "Did you really just say 'gee'?"

"Yeah," Steve might have blushed, if Tiberius hadn't growled behind him, drawing his attention, "Oh, excuse me."

The man shrugged, continuing to try and dry out his hair with a shake. Nick hopped up next to him, shouting out encouragements while Steve beat Tiberius to a pulp.

"Is wonderboy here for real?" the man commented with a small smile to Nick.

"What're you talkin' about? Of course he's real," Nick huffed in reply as Steve finished up with Tiberius.

He knocked the beast around a bit, until finally Tiberius was ready to collapse. Phil trotted over, gave the beast one final blow, then trounced along the beaten beast's back smugly. Steve wiped his hands clean and walked over to Nick and the man with a bright grin.

"How was that, Nick?"

"Rein it in, rookie. You can get away with those in the minor decathlons, but this," Nick tapped the gold medallion, emblazoned with the symbol of the gods, attached to his suit, "Is the big leagues."

"Hey," Steve protested, "At least I beat him, didn't I?"

"Next time, don't let your guard down just because someone bats their eyelashes at you," Nick snorted, with a gesture at the man they'd saved, "It's like I keep telling you, you have to stay focused, and you-"

But Steve's attention was already lost, somewhere over where the man he'd saved was bent over the pond, drying out his hair and clothes. He raised his head just enough to cast a glance back at Steve, brown eyes wide and expressive, a small smile on his soft-looking lips. Steve walked past Nick, unaware that the satyr was even still talking, and right past Phil, who'd held out his hoof for a high-five. Both watched Steve in frustration as he approached the young man he'd saved from Tiberius.

"Are you alright, Mr…?" Steve asked, only to receive a shock of water to his face as the man whipped his hair back.

"Stark, Anthony Stark. My friends call me Tony, at least they would if I had any friends," Anthony, Tony, shrugged, all fast talking and seductive smiles as he handed Steve his sandal so he could lean back down to the water and wash off his feet, "So, did they give you a name with all of those rippling pectorals?"

"Uh, I'm, um," Steve stuttered, feeling a blush forming, "Uh."

"Are you always this articulate?" Tony smirked, snatching back his sandal and beginning to walk off.

"Steven," he quickly offered, then, with a cough to clear his throat and oh-so-subtly deepen his voice, "My name is Steven."

"Steven, huh? I think I prefer wonderboy," Tony bent to put his sandal back on, and Steve tried to pursue a conversation in spite of Phil waving his wings in front of him.

"So, uh, how…how did you get mixed up with the, uh…?" Steve gestured back to the beast, trying to coolly lean against the tree nearby, and almost slipping and falling.

"Jackass with hooves?" Tony filled in the blank, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Yeah. Uh, yes."

"Well, you know how some guys are. They think 'no' means 'yes' and 'get lost' means," at this point, Tony fell into Steve's arms, fluttering his too-long eyelashes at Steve with a look that said things Steve shouldn't think about, "'Take me, I'm yours'."

Steve blinked widely, and tried very hard not to think about those things.

He didn't succeed.

Tony took his silence for confusion, and shrugged, gesturing a thumb to Nick, "Shorty here can explain it to ya later."

Nick growled in reply, about to say something, when Tony continued.

"Well, thanks for everything, Stevie, it's been a real slice," he saluted Steve, then began to saunter off. Steve's eyes wandered lower than they should have down Tony's back, until he shook his head to snap himself out of it.

"Wait!" he called, and Tony looked back, one eyebrow raised, "Um. We can…can we give you a ride?"

Phil, looking extremely offended, snorted in Steve's face, and shot up into a tree branch where he whinnied and grunted in protest.

"I don't think your Pinto likes me very much," Tony glanced from Phil to Steve with a doubting look.

"Phil?" Steve exclaimed, "Oh no, don't be silly, he'd be more than happy to-ow!"

An apple dropped onto his head with a clunk, and when Steve glanced up, Phil did his best to look unassuming, looking away innocently.

"I'll be alright. I'm a big tough guy, I tie my own sandals and everything," Tony just flexed his muscles, knocking Steve's chin lightly, "See ya around, wonderboy."

He sauntered off again, his hips drawing more of Steve's attention than they should have, if the dazed look on Steve's face was anything to go by.

"Bye…" Steve replied, awe and wonder in his voice once Tony was out of earshot, "He's… _something._ Isn't he, Nick?"

"Yeah, oh yeah, really something. A real pain in my ass," Nick snapped grouchily, "Earth to Steve! We got a job to do, remember? Thebes awaits."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Steve murmured, still watching the part of the woods where Tony's figure had disappeared as Phil swooped down and scooped them both up, headed off for Thebes once again.

Across the way, Tony watched them go with a shake of him head. Behind him, a twig snapped. He turned to see a bunny and a squirrel approaching him cautiously.

"Aw, how cute," he cooed, then dropping the mimicry, "A couple of rodents looking for a theme park."

"Who you callin' a rodent, Stark! I," the first declared, "Am a  _bunny._ "

"Stow it, Barton," Tony just sighed, and the two transformed back to their demon form.

"Ta-da!" Clint winked, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Thought I smelled a rat."

"Oh, Tony," a wisp of smoke rolled in, pulling Tony's head away from the demons and towards…

Loki.

"Speak of the devil," Tony grimaced.

"Tony  _dearest_ , what exactly happened here? I thought you were going to persuade the river guardian to join my team for the uprising, and…" Loki produced a chess board out of smoke, examining a little stone piece that looked like Tiberius, "Yet, here I am, river guardian-less."

"I gave it my best shot, but he made me an offer I had to refuse," Tony snapped, reaching out and flicking the river guardian piece off the board.

"Fine," Loki shrugged, making the board disappear again, "So instead of subtracting two years from your sentence, I'll just add two on. Why don't you 'give that your best shot'?"

"Look, it wasn't my fault!" Tony huffed, walking away to cross his arms with a sulking scowl, "It was this wonderboy,  _Steven_."

The air around them dropped twenty degrees in a flash.

"Steven, Steven, why does that name ring a bell…" Selvig paced back and forth, tapping a spiny finger on his chin.

"I don't know," Clint shrugged, "Maybe we owe 'im money?"

" _What_ was that name again?" Loki stalked over to Tony, pressing in close.

"Steven, Steve, Stevie," Tony fired back, already off on a tangent, oblivious to Loki, who was burning bright red, his flames shooting up as he began to hyperventilate, shooting a deadly glare over at his  _idiot_ minions, "He comes on with this big innocent farm boy routine, but I could see through that in a minute and-"

He continued rambling, but Clint froze.

"Wait a minute," Clint blinked, tugging on Selvig, eyes wide, "Wasn't Steven the name of that kid we were supposed to-"

" _Oh my gods!"_ they both shrieked, right as Loki's flames shot up to the sky, his hands becoming smoky shadows that reached out and snatched up before they could run.

"So you 'took care of him', did you?" Loki snarled, "'Dead as a doornail', were those not your  _exact_  words?"

"This might be," Clint choked out from the hand Loki had around his neck, "A  _different_ Steven?"

"I mean, yeah, Steven is," Selvig added, squeaking as Loki squeezed tighter, "A very popular name!"

"I am about," Loki took a deep breath as he flung his minions to the ground, "To rearrange the cosmos. And the  _one person_ who can defeat me is waltzing. Around.  _In the woods?!"_

With his last words, streaks of fire shot out from his hands, destroying everything around him. Clint and Selvig became cockroaches while Tony ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding a stream of fire with one eyebrow raised, unimpressed. He was far too used to these dramatics by now; Loki was more like the god of drama queens and daddy issues, really.

"Well, we can still cut in his waltzing," Clint pointed out.

"That's right, and at least we made him mortal!" Selvig added.

"Hm," Loki considered this a moment, then, scooping all of them up in his smoke-like hands, "Fortunately for the three of you, we still have time correct this rather egregious oversight. And this time…there will be no mistakes."

* * *

"Wow!" Steve exclaimed, letting Phil swoop in low over the city of Thebes, "It that all one town?"

"One town, a million troubles," Nick shook his head, "The one and only Thebes. The big olive itself; if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere."

They landed, and Steve couldn't help but admire the great and busy city. Nick tugged on his wrist.

"Stay with me, kid, this city is a dangerous pla-"

Right as he spoke, a chariot blew by them, nearly taking Nick's head off.

"Look where you're goin', numbskull!" the driver called back with a sneer.

"Hey, I'm fucking walkin' here!" Nick roared back, then, to Steve, "You see what I mean? I'm tellin' you, wackos."

They turned a corner, and a man in a large black cape revealed himself to them.

"Wanna buy a sundial?" he grinned.

"He's not interested, all right? C'mon kid," Nick quickly steered him away, right into a lost-looking man with very few clothes.

"The end is near!" the man wailed, "Can't you feel it?"

"Yes, yes, thank you for the info, we'll ponder that a while," Nick waved him off, then to Steve, "Don't make eye contact, people here are nuts. They live in the city of turmoil; trust me kid, you're gonna be just what the doctor ordered. Here, listen for yourself."

They turned a corner to where a group of people were washing off their clothes in a fountain.

"It was tragic!" a woman nearby wailed to her friends, "We lost everything in the fire."

"Everything except old Snowball," a man lifted up his singed cat.

"Now, were the fires before after the earthquake?" a muscular man inquired.

"They were after the earthquake, I remember," a thin, frail woman answered.

"But before the flood, certainly," a heavyset woman added.

"Don't even get me started on the crime rate," an older man sighed.

"Thebes has certainly gone downfall in a hurry," the heavyset woman nodded.

"Tell me about it," the old man agreed, "It seems like every time I turn around there's some new monster wreaking havoc."

"All we need now is a plague, or locusts," the first man sighed.

A cricket jumped up onto the stone fountain, and they collectively shrieked.

"That's it!" the old man declared, "I'm movin' to Sparta."

Nick nudged Steve, and he stepped forward, "Excuse me? It uh…it seems to me that what you folks need is a hero."

They looked back at him, completely deadpan.

"Yeah," the muscular man snorted, "And who are you?"

"I'm Steven, and, uh," Nick nudged him forward with his satyr's horns, "I happen to be…a hero!"

"Is that true?" the old man laughed along with the others, "Have you ever even saved a town before?"

"Uh, well, no, not exactly, but I-"

"Have you ever reversed a natural disaster?" the muscular man took Steve by the shirtfront seriously.

"Well, no-"

"Oh, please," the man released him with a grunt, "He's just another chariot chaser. We need  _this?_ "

"That's a laugh," the woman agreed with a huff.

"Don't you fuckers get it?" Nick snapped, chasing after them, "This kid is the genuine article!"

They turned, looking mildly offended, but not particularly convinced.

"Hey, isn't that the goat-man who trained Achilles?" one questioned.

"Watch it," Nick snarled, stamping his hoof against the ground in anger.

"Yeah, you're right," the muscular man grinned to his friend, "Hey, nice job on those heels! Ya missed a spot!"

"I got your heel right here!" Nick charged, attacking the man angrily, "I'll wipe that stupid grin off your face! Why, I ought to-!"

"Hey, Nick! Nick! Take it easy, Nick," Steve stepped in, hauling Nick off the man.

"What are you, crazy? Sheesh," the man grunted, dusting himself off.

"Young man," one of the women came up to him with an air of dignity, "We need a  _professional_ hero, not some amateur."

"Wait, stop!" Steve called, but they were already walking away. He sighed, collapsing down next to a statue, "How am I supposed to prove myself a hero if nobody will give me a chance?"

"You'll get your chance," Nick assured him, "You just need some kind of catastrophe, or disaster-"

"Help, help! Please! There's been a terrible accident!" someone's voice could be heard in the distance, and Steve recognized it instantly.

"Tony?" he breathed, sitting up straight. Nick took one look at Steve's reaction and groaned.

"Speaking of disasters," he curled his lip, but Steve was already off into the crowd, searching for Tony.

"Wonderboy! Steve! Thank goodness!"

Tony gasped when he caught sight of Steve, racing over and into his arms, his hands landing against Steve's chest. Steve instinctively caught him, fighting the blush that rose to his cheeks while Tony caught his breath.

"What happened, what's wrong?" Steve questioned.

"Outside of town, two little boys, they were playing the gorge," Tony shook his head, panic in his voice, "There was this rock slide, a terrible rock slide, they're trapped!"

"Kids? Trapped?" Steve felt a grin growing on his face. He turned, grabbing Nick, "Nick! This is great!"

"You're really choked up about this, aren't ya?" Tony raised an eyebrow, panic act dropping for just a moment.

"Come on!"

Steve didn't notice, instead taking Tony by the wrist and pulling him over to where Phil was waiting.

"Oh! No, I-you don't understa-I have this terrible fear of-!" but Steve was already hoisting him up by the waist onto Phil's back and in a flash they were taking off into the sky, Tony still wailing, " _Heights!"_

Tony's eyes flew wide as they took off, his arms immediately slipping around Steve so he didn't fall off. Tony was too terrified at that particular moment to enjoy Steve's delightfully pronounced abs, but Steve couldn't help but enjoy the feel of Tony's arms around his waist. Tony's skin was warm, flush against Steve's, and his grip was so tight his knuckles had gone white.

He didn't even notice he'd left Nick behind, running and waving a hand.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Nick grouched, running after them, "Don't mind me, I'm right behind…okay…whoo boy, I'm way behind ya."

In the air, Phil had noticed Tony's fear and was now racing even faster with a sneaky grin. He pulled a few tricks and flips, flying fancy, until they arrived with a bounce, almost throwing a shaky Tony off. Steve, of course, kept him steady.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern, and Tony nodded with a grimace.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Just get me down before I ruin your upholstery."

At that comment, Phil's eyes widened, and he bounced Tony off. Steve caught him before he could hit the ground. Before he could enjoy Tony in his arms again, Steve heard the children's cries for help.

"Help! I can't breathe!"

"Hurry!"

"Get us out!"

"We're suffocating, somebody call IX-I-I!"

Steve raced over to where he could hear them, under a large rock. The rock was enormous, kept from crushing the boys only by the way it was placed. There was a small sliver of space, through which he could barely see two boys in the space underneath.

"Easy fellas, you'll be alright," Steve promised.

"We can't last much longer!" one boy panicked.

"Please, get us out!" the other begged.

The citizens of Thebes had caught up now, and were gathering on the outskirts of the gorge. Steve stepped back, assessing the rock a moment, then swooped in and hefted it up. Even Tony had to blink back surprise at that; the movement looked impossible, the rock a thousand times larger than what even the strongest man alive should have been able to lift. But the boys rushed out to the Thebe's residents reluctant applause.

"How're you guys doing?" Steve glanced down to the boys.

"We're okay now!"

"Jeepers, mister, you're really strong!"

"Well, try to be a little more careful next time, okay kids?"

"We sure will!"

They raced off while Steve tossed aside the rock. They ducked and weaved between people, avoiding eyes and escaping up the side of the cliff. They reached the top, where Loki sat in a stone throne.

"Stirring performance, boys, I was truly moved," Loki commented drily.

"'Jeepers, mister'?" Selvig snorted, mimicking Clint as he transformed back into his demon form.

"I was  _going,"_ Clint huffed, offended, waving a hand theatrically as he too turned back, "For innocence."

"And, might I add two thumbs way, way up for our leading lady, hm?" Loki smirked at Tony, who was at the edge of the cliff they were up on.

Tony just looked regretful, unable to tear his gaze from where Steve still stood with the crowd.

"Get out of there you big lug, while you still can," he murmured worriedly.

Down below, Steve knew nothing.

"Nick! Nick, I did great! They even applauded, sort of," Steve grinned brightly, not even fazed by the heavy lifting.

"Yeah, ya-" there was a low, rumbling growl, and Nick stopped cold, staring off into the depths of the cave they had unveiled, "I hate to burst your bubble kid, but that ain't applause."

Two cold, reptilian eyes flashed in the darkness, and that was their only warning before the world exploded into claws and scales. The beast gave a guttural, screeching roar, flashing it's teeth as lightning crackled overhead in warning.

"N-Nick?" Steve stammered, backing away, "What do you  _call_ that thing?"

"Two words,  _scram!_ "

The crowd began screaming, dispersing in a panic while Nick too retreated to the sidelines. The beast was scaly and reptilian, and had four legs and a fat lower body but a ridiculously long neck reached up to the heavens, bearing crazy sharp fangs. Up on the cliff, Loki grinning his approval.

"Let's get ready to rumble!"

The thing advanced on Steve immediately. Steve could only wave his sword as he backed away, unsure how to handle this.

"That's it! Dance around, dance around! Watch the teeth,  _watch the teeth!"_ Nick shouted from the sidelines as Steve ducked and weaved, "Come on, come on. Lead with your left, your left!"

The beast reared back then charged; Steve dove to the right, only just managing to escape the beast's glistening teeth by luck.

"Your  _other_ left!" Nick groaned while Steve dropped and rolled away to safety.

He dropped his sword, so he grabbed a large chunk of rock and hefted it at the beast's head. The beast just caught it in it's mouth and crunched down, shattering it. It made another charge for Steve, and, unable to dodge, he grabbed the beast by the teeth, struggling for a long, dangerous moment before tossing the beast to the side by it's teeth. He managed to grab his sword at last, but the beast snaked out, using it's tongue to grab Steve by the ankle and toss him up high into the air and swallow him whole.

Off on the sidelines, Nick looked away with a shake of his head. Another good hero; gone. Tony's face and knuckles went white as he gripped the rock in front of him, physically flinching as the beast swallowed. This was his fault, this was all his fault.

The beast grinned, licking it's lips and advancing on the crowd now with a screech. Then, it paused, choking a bit, making retching noises. Then, a sword pressed through it's neck, slicing the beast's head off from the inside. The head flew off into the crowd, and the body hit the ground with a satisfying thud. Steve fell with it, managing to land on his feet, if a it shakily. He was dripping in beast-ooze, but he gave a tired grin to the crowd, who cheered for real this time.

"Alright, alright, yeah!" Nick cheered loudest.

"See, Nick?" Steve dropped his sword and collapsed to the ground with an exhausted laugh, "That…that wasn't so…hard."

"Kid!" Nick was by his side immediately, "Hey, how many horns do you see?"

"Uh…" Steve blinked up at him woozily, "Six?"

"…" Nick shrugged, "Eh, close enough. Let's get you cleaned up, huh?"

Rain began to fall, and up on the cliff, Selvig was panicking, sure that Loki was going to roast them alive; Steve had  _lived._ Loki was going to kill them for sure-

"Relax," Loki just drawled, a smirk on his face, "It's only halftime."

As he spoke, the beast in the gorge began to shake, stretching with a crackling sound. Nick turned, single eye wide.

"That doesn't sound good."

With a roar and a shriek that sounded even worse, three heads burst forth from the beast's slain body. They looked to each other in delight, then advanced on Steve.

"Definitely not good!" Nick announced, slapping Steve's sword back into his hand before high-tailing it back to the sidelines.

Steve raced away as the beast, clearly a hydra, gave chase, snapping at his heels. Steve whistled loudly, and Phil immediately swooped in. Steve grabbed him and they took off into the sky, ducking and weaving to avoid the hydra's many snapping jaws. In what he would later recognize as not the best plan he'd ever had, Steve continued trying to slice their heads, trying to maybe beat the regenerative process.

Instead, he now faced a demonic beast with more heads than he could count.

" _Will you forget the head-slicing thing?!"_ Nick raged from the sidelines.

"Hyah!" Steve nudged Phil higher in the storming sky, but it was in vain.

One of the heads finally knocked Phil in the side and Steve slipped off, falling right into their tangle of heads. He managed to escape the teeth, mostly because they were so tangled with themselves that they couldn't quite reach him. He bounced off one, using it's tongue as a rope and slipped out of their tangle, slamming into the side of the cliff. He grappled for purchase, but was instead slammed and held against the wall by a claw.

"Ah, my favorite part of the game," Loki mused with a malevolent grin, "Sudden death."

Right as the heads descended on him, Steve managed to twist his hands loose, slamming a fist against the side of the cliff. His god-like strength was enough to shake mountains, and the cliff face cracked, sending boulders raining down on them. They buried both Steve and the hydra, until only a single claw wasn't covered by the rocks.

Phil whinnied in alarm, and even the previously unmovable crowd gasped. Nick stood to the side, shock and disappointment on his face.

"No…there goes another one," Nick shook his head in dismay, "Just like Achilles."

Up on the cliff with a smirking Loki, Tony flinched again. His shoulders were tense and the regret was plain in his eyes, but he couldn't stop watching the rocks.

"Game. Set," Loki smirked, snapping his fingers, "Match."

"C'mon, wonderboy," Tony whispered.

As the words left his mouth, the hydra's claws crackled and shuddered. The crowd turned in horror…to see Steve break free of the claw, wrenching it apart to escape. There was barely a split second of silence before the crowd was whooping and hollering, cheering with wild abandon. Phil turned triumphant circles in the air, exuberant. Steve stumbled out of the claw, waving a hesitantly shy hand to the crowd that was cheering his name. Even the skies cleared, the rain giving way to bright sunshine as Steve stepped forward and the crowd rushed him, hoisting him up on their shoulders. Phil swooped low over the crowd, licking him excitedly.

"Ya gotta admit, Nick, that," Steve smiled tiredly as he was carried past Nick, "Was pretty heroic."

"You did it! You did it, kid, you won by a landslide," Nick gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder as he passed.

Up on the cliff, Loki was  _steamed._ His hands glowed red hot, and he gripped Clint and Selvig with iron claws.

"Well. What do ya know?" Tony clapped, a relieved smile on his face as he watched Steve enjoy the celebration.

* * *

" _From that day forward, our boy Steve could do no wrong," Natasha told them with a smile, "He was so hot, steam looked cool."_

" _Steve was on a roll; person of the week in all the polls, stopped on the street wherever he went, and man, point him at a monster and just like that," Bruce snapped his fingers, "T.K.O."_

" _He went from zero to hero in no time flat," Maria agreed, "He took out everything from hydra to wild boar to minotaurs."_

" _And let me tell you, when he smiled? Girls went crazy," Natasha added, then shook her head with a smirk, "Not that sweet ol Stevie ever noticed unless their name was Tony Stark."_

" _But he was busy," Maria added, "When he wasn't saving the world he was earning appearance fees and royalties. Soon enough, Steve had money to burn. They even raised a statue of him in the city center; rich, famous, and undefeated, people would line up outside his gates just to watch him flex."_

" _He took out every monster Loki threw his way," Bruce continued, "Without hesitation. Steve was shaping up to be a true hero indeed."_

" _The perfect package, packed in a pair of pretty pecs," Natasha winked._

" _He was bold, he was brave, he was sweet; the world adored him," Bruce shot a look at Natasha, "He was riding high, and not at all conceited."_

" _And Loki," Maria finished, "Was furious."_

* * *

Up above the city of Thebes, Loki was having target practice. Clint and Selvig would hoist vases with Steve's face on them into the air, and Loki shot fireballs that shattered the vases to pieces while Tony watched, lounging in a chair off to the side.

"Nice shootin', Rex," Tony just smirked, lazily making gun signs with his fingers.

"I can't  _believe_ this," Loki snarled, not even paying attention, "I've thrown everything at him, and it doesn't even-" he stopped short, hearing a strange squeaking noise. He looked down at Clint, "What. Are.  _Those?_ "

"Um," Clint squirmed, his bright pink and blue Air Steve's squeaking at the movement, "I dunno, I thought they looking kind of dashing."

"I've got 24 hours to rid myself of this, this  _problem,_ or the entire scheme I have had in the works for _twenty years_ goes up in smoke and you. Are wearing.  _His merchandise?!"_

Loki was bright red and flaming, about to strangle Clint, when a loud slurping interrupted him. His flames cooled instantly in surprise, and he turned to look at Selvig, who was slurping away at a cup with Steve's face on it.

"Uh…" Selvig seemed to suddenly realize what he was doing. He offered a sip timidly, "Thirsty?"

The mountain exploded in a fit of fiery fury. While Clint and Selvig quivered in the corner, Tony just smirked and sauntered over to the edge that overlooked the city of Thebes, where Steve was just visible below.

"Looks like your game's over," Tony watched with a smile as Steve talked to an eager crowd and left his handprints in wet plaster, "Wonderboy's hitting every curve you throw at him."

Loki caught sight of Tony's sauntering hips, and a brilliant idea took root.

"And yet, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps I just haven't been throwing the  _right_ curves at him," Loki's lips curled into a devious smirk, making a gesture at Tony's hips at the word 'curves'.

"Don't even go there," Tony sneered, somehow not even surprised. He stood, turning away from the ledge and crossing his arms. Unfortunately, Loki continued.

"Ah, but he must have a weakness. Everyone has a weakness. For Pandora, it was the box, the Trojans, hey, they bet on the wrong horse. We simply need to discover Steven's."

"I've done my part," Tony shook him off, "Get your little imps to-"

"They couldn't even handle him as a baby," Loki scoffed, and Clint and Selvig looked mildly offended, though really there wasn't much they could say. Loki continued, his voice dropping low and seductive, "And I need someone to handle him as a  _man."_

"Hey," Tony turned with a growl, "I've sworn off that sort of thing."

"Well, that's good," Loki nodded, faking sympathy, "Because that's what got you into this in the first place, isn't it? You sold your soul to me to save your girlfriend's life; ever the noble one, aren't we, Tony?"

_Pepper._

Tony watched silently as Loki made a figure of Pepper out of smoke, falling into a smoke-Tony's arms. Then, in a snap of his fingers, a stronger, taller, altogether more manly figure sauntered by, and the smoke-Pepper wandered away with him, leaving smoke-Tony behind. Alone.

"And how does she repay you? By running off with some lug."

"That was her choice," Tony snapped.

He'd never told her what he'd done to save her life, never told her his deal with Loki. When she'd said she was leaving him for Happy, for someone she'd said would 'actually care about her'…she hadn't known, and he hadn't blamed her, and he wasn't going to start now. It was years ago, besides.

Didn't mean it stung any less.

"She hurt you quite deeply, didn't she, Stark?"

"Well, I've learned my lesson, haven't I?" Tony snarled, waving a hand to erase the smoke figures permanently.

"Which is exactly why I have a feeling you'll love my newest offer," Loki handed Tony one of the vases with Steve's face on it, moving his hands to Tony's shoulders. Tony just looked down at the vase doubtfully, his fingers tracing the image as Loki spoke, "You give me the key to bringing down Steven, and I give you, no questions, no restrictions, the thing you crave most in all the cosmos…"

Loki bent low, his cold breath on Tony's ear as Tony's eyes widened. He couldn't mean…he wouldn't…Tony had never dreamed of regaining it…

" _Your freedom."_

Tony dropped the vase, and it shattered against the stone floor.


	4. Chapter 4

"Man, you should've been there, Thor!" Steve grinned, gesticulating wildly as he spoke, fake wrestling with Phil to recreate the scene. He was in Thor's temple, talking to the animated statue about his most recent exploit, "I mangled the minotaur and grappled with the gorgon, just like Nick told me; I analyzed the situation, controlled my strength, and  _pow!_ The crowd went wild!"

"Ha!" Thor applauded, "You're doing great, Steve, we're all so proud of you!"

"I'm glad to hear you say that, brother. I've been waiting for this day a long time," Steve stepped forward, taking a deep breath.

"Oh?" Thor seemed confused, "And what day is that?"

"The day I rejoin the gods," Steve explained hopefully.

"You've done wonderfully, brother, you truly have," Thor hastily assured him, "But you're just not there yet. You haven't proven yourself a  _true_ hero."

"But Thor, I've beaten every single monster I've come up against. I'm the most famous person in all of Greece, heck, I'm an action figure!"

"I'm afraid being famous isn't the same as being a true hero," Thor shook his head.

"What more can I do?" Steve implored.

"It's something you have to discover for yourself," Thor just smiled.

"But how-"

"Look inside your heart," Thor assured him.

"Brother, wait-!"

But before Steve could even form a sentence, lightning struck the statue, and it became a statue once more. Thor had left. Frustrated and alone, Steve growled, slamming his fists into the ground. Phil whinnied sympathetically, crossing to Steve and covering him comfortingly with a wing.

* * *

"Okay, at 1, you got a meeting with King Augeas. He's got a problem with his stables, so I'd advise you not to wear your new sandals," Nick rattled off, reading from Steve's list of appointments, "And then there's-"

Steve himself was in the center of the room, sword and shield in hand, a lion's pelt on his back. He felt awkward, posed so formally, but the painter who was currently inking his likeness onto a vase had absolutely insisted. Apparently, 'he had a vision'.

"Nick-" Steve started to interrupt.

"I told you, don't move!" the artist screeched, waving a paintbrush.

"Sorry," Steve returned to the position, and Nick continued talking.

"The DRG, the Daughters of the Greek Revolution, want you at 2-"

"Nick-" Steve tried to get his attention again, but Nick kept talking.

"Then at 3 you've got to get a girdle from some amazons-"

"Nick!" Steve shouted abruptly, finally getting his attention, "What's the  _point?_ "

With that, he flung the stupid, flashy shield and sword to the side, accidently messing up the artist's painting. The artist gave a frustrated screech, scratched out the painting altogether, and stomped off.

"Keep your toga on, pal," Nick snapped at the artist, who just flung his art supplies in Nick's face in reply. Nick growled, but let the hoity toity artist stomp off, focusing on Steve instead, "What do you mean, what's the point? You want to go to Olympus, don't you?"

"Yeah, but this isn't getting me anywhere," Steve pulled off the lion's skin and sat down with a sigh.

"You can't give up now," Nick insisted, "We're counting on you."

"I gave this everything I had," Steve shook his head, "And it's still not good enough."

Nick observed Steve a moment, then crossed to sit next to him, one hand on his shoulder.

"Now you listen to me. I've seen them all, and I'm telling you, hand to Odin-you've got something I've never seen before."

"Really?"

"Kid, there is nothing you can't do."

Before either of them could say another word, the doors burst open and a horde of shrieking fangirls burst in.

"Oh my God, it's  _him!"_

"Look, Steve, look at me!"

"No, look at me, Steve!"

"Marry me, Steve!"

They converged and surrounded him, falling over themselves to be near him.

"I touched his elbow!"

"I got his sweatband!"

"Nick, help!" Steve managed to squeak out before they took him to the ground.

"Escape plan beta," Nick whispered.

"Gotcha."

Nick blew a whistle to get the girls attention, and when they looked back, Steve was gone.

"There he goes!" Nick pointed out the open door, "He's on the veranda!"

The girls raced out, and Nick followed to corral them off the property. Once Nick was gone, Tony slipped out from his hiding place, closing the door behind him. Tony glanced around the empty room thoughtfully a moment, before catching sight of Steve's feet just under the golden curtain by the wall. Steve was clearly shifting nervously, and Tony couldn't help a little smile; so beautiful women made small-town, goodie-two-sandals nervous, huh? It was sort of adorable, really.

"Let's see," Tony smirked, grabbing hold of the drawstring for the curtain and yanking it to reveal a mussed-looking Steve, "What could be behind curtain number one?"

"Tony!" Steve blinked, blue eyes wide in surprise.

"It's all right, the sea of raging hormones has ebbed," Tony quipped, patting Steve on the arm. His gorgeous, rock hard arm. Tony shook his head and walked towards the couch; best not to get too carried away here.

"Gee, it, it's great to see you," Steve's flustered look quickly melted into a smile, "I missed you."

I should find a way to bottle that smile, Tony mused. You could cure cancer with a smile like that. But then, if he bottled it, it wouldn't be coming from Steve, and Tony had a feeling that would take all the magic out of it. Who smiled like that, anyway, all genuine and bright and sweet, like he was a fucking ray of sunshine or something? And who says things like that, 'I missed you', like he meant it?Too good to be true, Tony shook his head to remind himself, they always are.

"So, this is what heroes do on their days off?"

Tony dropped down on the couch, not bothering to reply to Steve's last comment. Whether or not he'd missed Steve too was irrelevant. Besides, why would he miss some silly wonderboy?

"I'm no hero," Steve deflected with a wave of his hand, following after Tony to the other side of the room.

"Sure you are," Tony shrugged, picking up one of the vases on the table beside him. It had a caricature of Steve posing heroically emblazoned on the side, "Everybody in Greece thinks you're the greatest thing since they put the pocket in pita."

"I guess," Steve chuckled, "It's crazy. I can't go anywhere without being mobbed."

"You sound like you could use a break," Tony purred, turning up the charm.

"Oh, well, I-"

A blush was working it's way up Steve's neck, and Tony in no way found it adorable. None whatsoever.

"Think your nanny goat would go berserk," Tony picked up a little Nick doll from the table and squeezed it, making the eyes and tongue stick out on the word berserk, "If you played hooky with me?"

Tony shot Steve his most charming, flirtatious smile, and took pride in how Steve visibly faltered.

"Uh, gee, I don't know, Nick's got the rest of the day pretty booked, it wouldn't really be right to-"

"Again with the 'oh gee'," Tony smiled fondly, standing up and sauntering closer to Steve.

"Yes, uh, yeah, I-" Steve's blush had reached his cheeks, and he bit his lip as Tony stood chest to chest with him, coming up quite a bit shorter than the hero. Tony hooked a finger round Steve's collar, pulling him down to his level with a feisty little smile.

"Nick, Schmick," Tony whispered seductively, his lips only a few inches from Steve's, "Don't you want to play hooky with me?"

"Tony…"

There a long moment where they stood like that, each in the other's space, breathing the same air, their lips bare inches apart. They didn't break eye contact for even a second, and Tony couldn't help but be fascinated with the lust dark and wild in Steve's baby blues; Loki's mission was far from his mind as he wondered what Steve would taste like, what would his solid muscles would feel like underneath Tony's hands, free of clothing, just skin on skin in the empty room.

Steve didn't seem like the type to talk dirty, a bit too chivalrous for it, but Tony was willing to bet he could make Steve moan. Oh, how Tony could make him moan. Briefly he let the images play across his mind; he imagined touching Steve in ways that made him moan and sigh and beg, for more, for harder, for Tony. How much would it take to unravel Steve completely? How much would Tony have to play and touch and tease until Steve just melted under his hands, Tony's name falling over his lips again and again, a prayer and a curse all in one.

"God, I want you," Steve breathed, the look in his eyes not at all appropriate for all ages.

Steve's voice was deeper than Tony had heard before, rougher, and it shot straight to Tony's groin. Tony's mouth went dry, and he was unable to remember the context of their previous conversation. He briefly entertained some of the options Steve could have meant, and they all left him with his heart beating double time and the situation in his pants entirely uncomfortable. He was about a split second from yanking Steve down and aggressively claiming his mouth when Steve promptly went bright red.

"To," Steve hastily corrected, quickly extracting himself from Tony's grip on his shirtfront, "To, I mean, I want  _to._ I want to, uh, play hooky, was what I meant. With you."

"Hooky," Tony blinked, trying to get his heart to restart. He was relatively sure it had jumped ship on him at some point in the whole exchange, "Right."

"Nick's out front," Steve pointed out, "How will we get out?"

"Oh, that's easy," Tony shrugged, trying to recollect himself and failing miserably, jerked a thumb to the back window, "Out the window, round the dumbbells, you lift up the back wall…and we're gone."

* * *

"Wow," Steve smiled, leading Tony into the garden with a hand on the small of his back, "What a day. That restaurant by the bay was just fantastic."

"I told you I knew a guy," Tony chuckled, absently leaning into Steve's touch.

"You didn't tell me you knew  _the_ guy," Steve shook his head, smiling at the memory, "Mmm, I could eat that steak all day. I can't believe you didn't eat more."

"Maybe you could pack it away, Mr. Muscles," Tony rolled his eyes, "But some of us have a figure to keep, y'know."

"Please," Steve snorted, "Like you care about your figure."

"I'll have you know I care deeply," Tony huffed.

"Sure you do, Tony," Steve hummed in agreement.

"Are you humoring me?" Tony eyed him.

"Aren't I always?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"You're sassier than you look, Rogers," Tony shot back.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Steve just grinned, giving Tony a little mock bow.

"And a dork, too," Tony rolled his eyes, lightly shoving Steve, "I don't know how I put up with you."

" _You_  put up with _me_? I didn't hear half the play through your 'commentary', chatterbox," Steve complained, but he was smiling, "Though that Oedipus thing…man, I thought I had problems."

Steve walked ahead a bit as Tony caught sight of two little birds, pink and green.

"Stop fooling around!" the pink one, Selvig, hissed at him.

"Yeah, get the goods already, man!" the green one, Clint, added.

Then Steve turned back to face Tony, and the birds returned to cheeping innocently.

"I didn't know playing hooky could be so much fun."

Steve gave a lop-sided, genuinely happy smile, and there was a softness in his eyes that made Tony's heart do strange things. Steve took Tony's hands in his, and Tony couldn't help but marvel at how warm they were.

"Yeah…neither did I," Tony sighed, more truth to his words than perhaps he'd meant to express.

"Thank you, Tony," Steve just smiled again, the same warmth to it as before, and Tony hated himself.

Steve was…there weren't words for a man like Steve. He was kind to everyone and adorably charming, he was a bit of a dork but crazy funny, and sort of naïve but in only the sweetest and most genuine of ways. He didn't want to trick Steve, but…Selvig and Clint were watching, which meant Loki was sure to be nearby, and Tony could all but taste his freedom on the tip of his tongue.

"Don't thank me just yet," Tony muttered, then, louder, "Oh!"

With that, Tony faked a little slip off the last step, falling into Steve's arms. Steve's chest was warm under Tony's hands as Steve caught him, his arms sliding around Tony's waist protectively. Steve's face was just a few inches from Tony's, and Tony couldn't help but wonder what Loki would do if Tony told Steve about the whole thing. He mentally shook his head; not even Steve could protect him from Loki.

"Careful," Steve murmured, eyes only for Tony.

"Sorry," Tony murmured back, and it wasn't exactly hard to act breathless when Steve absent-mindedly licked his lips. He gave a small chuckle, "Weak ankles."

He half expected Steve to kiss him; Tony was already in his arms, their lips mere inches apart, and Steve was looking at him with such open desire Tony wasn't sure Steve was even aware of it. Tony had received that look more than few times from him just today, and Tony had to admit that look alone was enough to banish any little 'bad idea' voices to the farthest corners of his mind.

Instead, Steve scooped Tony up into his arms.

"You'd better sit down a while, then," Steve said, concern replacing desire so fast Tony almost got whiplash, "We can sit over here."

Okay, so, protective streak.

"I didn't need to be carried," Tony tried to sound upset, but it came out as more amused than anything else.

"Maybe not," Steve shrugged, and Tony felt his muscles ripple with the action. Okay, maybe being carried was good thing. Great, even. Tony could totally work with this, "But I don't mind, and I wouldn't want you to trip again."

Steve let him down on a nearby bench, taking a seat next to him.

"So, uh," Tony leaned back, mentally rolling his eyes at what he was about to do, "Do you have any problems with things like this?"

"Problems?"

"Oh, you know…" Tony purred, lifting his ankle up into the air, tapping Steve's chin, "Weak ankles, I mean?"

Steve gulped, and Tony could absolutely not get over how adorable his nervousness was. Steve hesitantly put his hands on Tony's ankle, lowering it.

"Oh, uh, no, not really," Steve shifted, moving just a bit away from Tony.

Well, that wouldn't do.

"No weaknesses…" Tony purred, moving closer, "Whatsoever? No trick knees…" Tony tapped his fingers lightly on Steve's knee, trailing them up along Steve's thigh. Steve watched, wide eyed, but didn't move away again as Tony moved between Steve's knees and practically into his lap, tracing a hand over Steve's toned chest, "No…ruptured disks?"

"Uh," Steve paused, swallowed guiltily, then hastily stood and walked over to the fountain, "No, I'm, uh, I'm afraid I'm fit as a fiddle."

Tony stared a moment, dumb-founded. Had Steve just turned him down?

"Well, wonderboy, I guess you are perfect," Tony muttered.

"Uh, thanks."

Steve chuckled nervously, picking up a stone and skipping it across the fountain waters. His strength sent it a little too far though, and it smashed into the statue of Venus at the end. Tony laughed, walking over to rest an arm on Steve's shoulder. He quirked his head at the now armless statue.

"Whoops," Steve ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Y'know, it looks better that way," Tony observed. Steve shot him a dubious look, and Tony insisted, "No, it really does."

There was a moment's pause as Steve's dubious look softened into something else. Steve leaned forward, and Tony almost closed his eyes. At the last moment, something flashed overhead, and they both turned to look at the shooting star. Steve watched it eagerly, while Tony just watched Steve, a small smile on his face.

"You know…" Steve admitted quietly when it passed, thoughtfully, "When I was a kid, I…I would have given anything to be exactly like everybody else."

"You wanted to be petty and dishonest?" Tony sighed, walking closer to peer into the fountain's dark waters.

"Everybody's not like that," Steve frowned, surprised.

"Yes they are," Tony didn't look back at Steve, just kept gazing into the water, his own reflection staring accusingly back at him.

"You're not like that," Steve came up behind him, and in the water's reflection, Tony could see Steve reach out for him, as if to pull Tony into his arms. Tony turned to face him before he could.

"How do you know what I'm like?"

It wasn't an accusation, not quite. Tony had meant it to be, but it came out as a question, almost a plea, and Tony looked away again.

"All I know is…you're the most amazing person I've ever met," Steve told him simply, honestly. Tony looked back at Steve, and he was fiddling with his hands, "Tony…when I'm with you, I don't feel so alone."

"Sometimes it's better to be alone," Tony shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the fountain with a bone-weary sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"If you're alone…nobody can hurt you."

"Tony…" Steve's expression softened, a mix of compassion and protectiveness moving him forward. He sat next to Tony on the edge of the fountain, taking both of Tony's hands in his, a promise, "I would never, ever do  _anything_  to hurt you."

"And I don't want to hurt you," Tony shook his head, though he couldn't bring himself to pull his hands away. Steve was getting closer with every word, and though Tony kept talking, his words grew quieter as Steve grew closer, "So let's both do ourselves a favor and stop this…before…we…"

Tony closed his eyes.

"Alright, alright, break it up!"

Nick's voice blared, and a bright light flashed over both of them. Surprised, Tony sprung back, and he opened his eyes to see Steve move in front of him, protecting him with an arm. Tony felt a flood of affection for Steve, before Nick's loud voice drowned out everything else.

"I said break it up, party's over! I've been looking all over the god damned city for you-!"

"Calm down, one-eyed wonder," Tony snapped, ducking out from under Steve's arm as Nick and Phil landed, "It was all my fault."

"You're already on my list," Nick sneered back, "So don't make it worse!"

Nick hopped off Phil's back, and Phil snorted aggressively at Tony. In retaliation, Tony blew out the candle Phil was wearing as a search light.

"As for you!" Nick hopped up, grabbing Steve by the collar and roaring in his ear, "Do you have any fucking idea how long I've been looking for you?! I am not your babysitter, I am your trainer, and when we get back to the stadium, I'm going to put you through the training of your life for pulling this shit, you hear me?!"

"Okay, okay!" Steve groaned as Nick pulled him along.

"Get on the horse!" Nick bellowed, letting go of Steve's collar to point at said horse.

"I'm sorry," Tony sighed.

"Eh, he'll get over it," Steve waved him off with a smile, reaching up to pluck a flower from the tree overhead.

He handed the white blossom to Tony, kissing him on the cheek before Tony could say anything else. Tony just blinked, absent-mindedly raising a hand to his cheek.

"Move it! I said move your ass, you hear me, Rogers?!"

Nick continued complaining, eventually managing to drag Steve away from Tony and onto Phil's back. Phil immediately took off, though Steve was watching Tony wave goodbye instead of the flight.

"Hey, would you keep you damn eyes on the- _oof!_ "

With that, a branch smacked Nick right off Phil's back. He went flying, and conked his head as he hit the ground not more than a few feet from the garden they'd just left. Woozily, he rambled, "That's it…next time…I…drive."

With that, Nick passed out. Meanwhile, Tony had taken a seat at the fountain and was turning over the flower in his hand.

"What's the matter with me?" Tony whispered with a sigh, "You'd think a guy would learn. Man, if there's a prize for rotten judgment, I'd win in a landslide."

Tony tossed the flower with a scowl.

Behind him one of the stone statues moved to catch it, offering it back out to Tony. Anyone else might have been surprised by moving statues, but Loki had owned Tony's soul long enough that he'd come to terms with gods and their strange ways of showing up. He even recognized these ones.

"Muses," Tony nodded in greeting.

"Who do you think you're kidding?" the curly haired one Tony recognized as Bruce just snorted at him, still holding out the flower insistently.

"Excuse me?" Tony raised an eyebrow, "I'm not taking it back, if that's what you mean. I don't want it. No man is worth that kind of aggravation. Besides, it's ancient history; been there, done that."

"He's the Earth and Heaven to you, and, what, you're trying to keep it hidden?" another, Maria, Tony thought, "Honey, we can see right through you."

"Oh, please," Tony rolled his eyes, "Spare me the 'embrace your feelings' spiel. You gods are so nosy."

"You can't conceal it," Bruce shook his head, "We know how you feel, who you're thinking of."

"Not a chance," Tony shook his head vehemently, "No way."

"You swoon, you sigh," the third, Natasha, waved him off with a hand, "Why deny it?"

"It's too…cliché," Tony sneered, "I won't say it."

He stood then, walking away from the Muses, who just shrugged to each other.

"I've learned my lesson. It feels good when you start up, but…you've got to get a grip, or you just end up crying your heart out," Tony shook his head bitterly.

"You can keep on denying how you're feeling, but we're not buying," Maria just informed him, "We saw you mooning over your 'wonderboy' back there. Just face it, own up."

"You got it bad," Natasha smirked knowingly.

"I won't say it," Tony repeated with a roll of his eyes, walking away from the annoying gods and across the pond.

There were stepping stones, and he jumped across them. He almost missed the last one and he reached out to catch himself, grabbing the nearest statue for balance. He glanced up, to find a marble-carved Steve looking back. Of course. Tony used Steve's marble hand as leverage to pull himself up, brushing a hand over the statue briefly. Of course wonderboy looked great in marble.

"That grin inching it's way across your face says otherwise," Bruce noted with a smile of his own, "Face it, you're in love."

"You're way off base," Tony insisted, quickly moving away from the stupid statue, "I won't say it!"

"Won't say what?" Maria taunted, "That you're practically doing flips you're so head over heels in love?"

"Get off my case!" Tony growled, "I told you won't say it."

"Don't be so proud," Bruce rolled his eyes with a sigh, "It's okay to be in love, you know."

He held the flower back out to Tony, who paused long enough for Bruce to push it into Tony's hands. Tony lifted it hesitantly, smelling the sweet blossom with a sigh.

"At least out loud…" Tony murmured, a fond smile crossing his lips as he laid back on the fountain's edge, "I won't say I'm in…love…"

Tony heard a hissing sound behind him, and it was enough warning for him to hide the flower and sit up before Loki made his entrance.

"Hello, Stark," Loki greeted, "So what is it, then? You've spent all day with this Steven. What's his weakness?

"Get yourself another man," Tony shook his head, "I'm through."

"Run that by me again? I must have had brimstone stuck in my ear, for I could have sworn you said-"

"Then read. My. Lips," Tony snapped, turning and stalking away, "Forget it!"

"Oh, Tony," Loki just chuckled, appearing in front of Tony in a poof of smoke, "My sweet, deluded little minion. Aren't we forgetting one, teensy-tiny, but ever so crucial little detail? Ah, yes…" with that, Loki burst into bright, red-hot flames, though he was mere inches from Tony, " _I own you!"_

Tony had to recoil away from the flames that very nearly scorched his skin. Usually Loki's flames didn't actually come near enough to burn him, but it was clear he'd pissed the god off a touch more than normal.

"Ohh," off in the bushes, Nick was finally rousing awake with a groan that went unnoticed by Loki and Tony, "I swear, that fucker's going to be doing laps until he can't see straight…"

"You work for  _me,_ " Loki snarled, his voice registering with Nick, who suspiciously peeked out from behind the bushes. When he saw Tony, his eyes went wide. Loki, oblivious to Nick's presence, continued talking, "I say 'sing', you say 'name the tune', I say 'I want your lovely wonderboy's head on a platter', you say-"

"Medium or well-done?" Tony interrupted with a sneer, being his usual snarky self.

But his back was to the forest, so his sarcasm was lost on Nick, who could only assume he meant it.

"I knew that kid was trouble," Nick growled to himself, then he sighed, honest regret coloring his voice, "Oh, this is going to break Steve's heart."

Nick shook his head; it had to be done. He scampered off back to Thebes, while Tony and Loki continued their conversation.

"So you think yourself witty, Stark?" Loki growled, "Well, do you hear that sound? That's the sound of your freedom, fluttering out the window…forever."

Loki conjured some smoke bats and blew them in Tony's face. Tony waved them off with a cough and a glare.

"I don't care. I'm not going to help you hurt him."

"You're getting all worked up over nothing, Stark," Loki narrowed his eyes, unable to see his minion's logic, "Over some…guy."

"This one is different," Tony snapped, then, softened, "He's…he's honest, and he's sweet, and-"

"Oh, please," Loki rolled his eyes.

"He would never do anything to hurt me."

"He's a  _guy,_ " Loki made a face that expressed exactly what he thought of Steve's little promise.

"Besides, your unholyness," Tony taunted with a smirk, turning away from Loki and musing over his flower as he spoke with confidence, "You can't beat him. He has no weaknesses, he-"

Tony turned, and found himself faced with Loki's most malevolent grin.

"I think…" Loki reached forward, plucking the flower Steve had given Tony from Tony's slackened hands, "He does, Tony. Oh, yes…I think he does."

Loki grasped Tony's chin in one cold hand, set fire to Steve's flower with the other, and eyed Tony with a plotting smirk on his face.

* * *

Back at Steve's personal stadium, he was doing exercises with a vigor Nick had never seen. Nick sighed, making his way down to the center where Steve was. As much as he had griped about Tony, he wasn't looking forward to breaking Steve's heart. Tony had been a pain in the ass, sure, but Nick had never expected something like this.

"Hey, Nick! What happened to you?" Steve called.

"Kid, hey," Nick sighed, "We need to have a talk."

"I know!" Steve grinned, hauling Nick up and twirling him about a minute excitedly before he bounced off, "I just had the greatest day of my life! I can't stop thinking about Tony…he's just…something else."

"Look, I'm trying to talk to you, would you come down here and listen?" Nick called up to Steve, who was now doing giddy acrobatics on the bars.

"How can I come down there when I'm feeling so, so…" Steve bounced on the bar, making a mighty jump for the sky, "High!"

Phil watched Nick and Steve's antics, munching away on feed. Then, he heard a low whistle. He turned and caught sight of a voluptuous pegasus, batting it's eyes at him seductively. The pegasus waved it's wings in a come-hither motion, and Phil couldn't help but follow. The pegasus entered one of the stables, still batting it's tail at him, and Phil picked up his pace, following it inside. Then, Phil watched in horror as the pegasus changed shape, separating into two demons that snickered at him.

"Gotcha," the green one grinned, and they pounced.

Outside, Nick was still trying to get Steve's attention.

"Look, that's nice, but what I'm trying to say is-"

"And if it wasn't for you, I never would have met him," Steve landed, pulling Nick into a tight hug, "Oh, I owe you big time, Nick, I really do."

"Will you knock it off?" Nick squirmed out of Steve's grasp, "I'm trying to-"

"Rule #38, come on, Nick, keep your fists up there, huh?" Steve teased, playfully starting to spar with him.

"Listen to me, would ya? He's-"

"A dream come true?" Steve smiled brightly.

"Not exactly," Nick grunted.

"More handsome than Narcissus?"

"Aside from that-"

"The most wonderful-"

"He's a god damn fraud!" Nick exploded at last, "He's been fucking playing you for a sap!"

"Aw, come on," Steve just waved him off, happy grin never faltering, "Stop kidding around."

"I'm not kidding around," Nick growled back, "He's a fraud and he's playing you,  _using_ you-"

"Look, I know you're upset about today," Steve started, his lovestruck grin finally slipping into an frown, "But that's no reason to go saying nasty things about him-"

"Kid, you're missing the point-"

"The point is, I love him," Steve insisted.

"Well, he doesn't love you!" Nick fired back.

"You're crazy," Steve shook his head, turning away.

"He's nothing but a two-timing, no-good-"

"Watch it!" Steve growled.

"Lying, scheming-"

" _Shut up!"_ Steve whirled around, his hand flying out and catching Nick in the chest, sending him across the stadium and into some of the exercise equipment, "Nick…I'm…I'm sorry…"

"Okay. That's it. You won't face the truth? Fine," Nick grit his teeth, standing up and shaking himself off.

"Nick, wait, where're you going?"

"I'm hopping the first barge out of here," Nick shook his head, "I'm going home."

"Well, fine," Steve blustered, "Go, then! I don't…I don't need you!"

"And here I thought you were gonna be the all-time champ, not the all-time chump," Nick just sighed, leaving Steve alone in the stadium.

Steve, furious with Nick, with himself, with the world for bringing him down on what had been an amazing day, grabbed the heaviest barbell he could find and started lifting until he couldn't think about anything but the motion.

"My, someone seems to be in a bit of bad mood," someone spoke above him, startling Steve enough to drop the barbell to the ground. A blue-tinted man cloaked in black garb and billowing smoke stretched out on Steve's pull-up bar, seeming to float. He had blue fire for hair, and Steve only had to wonder a moment before the man swung down, landing next to him, and he got confirmation of who it was, "The name is Loki, and I am god of the dead."

"Not now, okay?" Steve just sighed. He had no desire to deal with this on top of everything else.

"Hey, hey," Loki appeared in front of him, "I only need but a few moments of your time, and I'm know for my fast tongue. You see, I have a bit of a deal in the works, a real estate venture, if you will, and Steve-you little demon you, may I call you Steve?-you seem to be constantly getting in my way."

"You've got the wrong guy," Steve shrugged off the hand Loki had pinching his cheek, and ducked away.

"Here me out, you little-!" Loki whipped around, his hair growing red hot as he grabbed Steve by the shirt, then, fast as he'd gotten angry, he calmed himself. He smoothed Steve's shirt back out with a little laugh, "Just…just hear me out, yes? You see, I would be eternally grateful if you would just…take a day off from this hero business of yours. Monsters, natural disasters, damsels in distress…quite stressful, I'm sure. Just take a day off."

"You're out of your mind," Steve shook his head adamantly, shaking Loki's grip on his shoulder off and turning to walk away again.

"Ah, not so fast. You see, I thought you might say that, so I do have a bit of…leverage, you might want to know about."

At that, Loki snapped his fingers, and Tony appeared just a few yards away.

"Tony!" Steve shoved Loki out of the way, running to Tony.

"Don't listen to-!" Tony moved to run to Steve as well, but smoky chains appeared, curling around Tony so that his arms, legs, and mouth were bound, and he fell to the ground. At the precise moment Steve reached him, he disappeared in a poof of smoke, reappearing further away, seated in the stadium.

"Let him go!" Steve demanded with a growl, immediately turning on Loki and charging right at him. He made to tackle the god to the ground, and instead went right through Loki's smoky form.

"See, here's my deal for you. You give up your strength for, oh, about 24 hours, let's say, the next 24 hours, and Tony here is free as a bird and safe from harm. You dance, you kiss, you carry on, everyone goes home happy. What say you, hm?"

"…" Steve paused, giving a long look at Tony, "People…people are going to get hurt, aren't they?"

"Nah! Well, you know, it's a  _possibility,_ of course, it happens, because, well, you know, it's war, but hey, what can I say? What do you owe these people, anyway? And isn't Tony," Loki crossed to where Tony was on the stadium's bleachers, taking Tony's face in his hand, "Isn't your darling little Tony here more important than they are?"

"Stop it," Steve growled, his blood boiling at the sight of Loki's filthy hands on Tony.

"Isn't he?" Loki demanded, pushing his advantage.

"You have to swear that he will safe from  _any_  harm. Whatever happens," Steve demanded, his eyes steeled in a way that Loki knew there was no getting around.

"…fine, I'll condede you that," Loki nodded at last. He supposed it wouldn't hinder his plans too much. So he patted Tony on the head condescendingly, "Tony here is safe, otherwise you get your strength back, yada yada yada, fine print, as it is. We're done, then? Shake on it, if you would?"

Steve regarded Loki's outstretched hand dubiously.

"You know," Loki drolled, his voice tight with impatience, "I don't really have the time to bat this around; I'm on a bit of a tight schedule here. I need an answer,  _now._  Going once…"

Steve looked at Tony, still bound tight, now shaking his head vehemently, his eyes pleading with Steve not to. But…all he could remember was Tony's words from earlier that night.  _If you're alone, nobody can hurt you._ Tony had been hurt before, and Steve would be damned if he let it happen again.

"Going twice…"

Steve shook. Loki gripped his hand tight, icy fingers like talons, curling around his hand. Their joined hands glowed bright blue, and Steve could feel his strength being drained away.

"You may feel just a tad queasy, it's natural," Loki smirked, "Maybe you should…sit down."

With that, Loki flung the barbell Steve had been lifting onto his chest, pining him to the ground.

"Now you know how it feels to be just like everybody else," Loki sneered, "Isn't it just peachy? Oh yes, and you'll love this; one more thing, Tony, darling, a deal's a deal. You're off the hook."

Loki snapped his fingers, releasing Tony from his smoky chains. Tony gasped for air, and Loki pulled him up, one arm over Tony's shoulders.

"By the way, Steve, isn't he just a fabulous little actor?"

"Stop it," Tony looked away, his words lacking their usual bite.

"What do you mean?" Steve looked between Loki and Tony with concern as he slid out from under the barbell.

"I mean your little darling was working for me the whole time," Loki drawled, then, with a smirk, "Duh."

"You're…you're lying!" Steve snapped.

"Help!"

The little boys he'd rescued from under a rock raced up to him.

"Jeepers, mister, you're really strong!" one sneered, mimicking a child's voice.

They both then burst into laughter, turning into demons again to poke at and push him around, still jeering.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Tones," Loki patted his cheek.

"No," Tony shoved Loki away, crossing to Tony, pushing Clint and Selvig aside, "It's not like that, I didn't, didn't mean to…I mean, I couldn't…"

He tried to take Steve's hands like Steve had taken his earlier, tried to explain…but Steve wouldn't look at him. He didn't push Tony away exactly, but he dropped his hands and turned away. He started to walk but Clint and Selvig, the little bastards, grabbed onto him and pulled him down, chanting taunts.

"I'm so sorry, Steve, I'm so sorry," Tony sank to his knees, tears pricking his eyes.

"Well, I must be off. There's a cosmos up there waiting for me, and it has my name on it," Loki conjured up a dark, smoky chariot with a snap of his fingers. He boarded, giving Tony and Steve a jaunty wave and smirk in parting, "So much for the preliminaries. Now on to the main event!"


	5. Chapter 5

" _High above Mighty Greece, the cosmos aligned at last, opening the gate to the fearsome Titans…"_

"Brothers!" Loki called to the Titans, flying high above their pit in his dark chariot. Clint and Selvig quivered at his feet, watching in awe and fear, "Titans! Look at your squalid prison, and tell me: who put you down there?"

"Thor!" came their moaning, furious reply.

"And now that I have set you free," Loki raised his hands, unlocking the gate of their prison and unleashing them with a crackle of fire and lightning, "What is the first thing you shall do?"

" _Destroy him!"_ they thundered as one.

"Good answer," Loki smirked.

"Crush Thor!" Lythos, the massive Rock Titan, roared as he stomped across the land, his vast and rocky body destroying cities and causing earthquakes with every step.

"Frrreeze Thor!" Hydros, the skeletal Ice Titan, hissed, blowing blisteringly cold snow and ice everywhere he went.

"Melt Thor!" Pyros, the molten Lava Titan, gurgled, simmering and bubbling and spreading thick, boiling lava across the land.

"Blow…him…away!" Stratos, the blustery Wind Titan, rasped as it blustered across the countryside, blowing away everything in it's path.

"Ahem," Loki cocked an eyebrow, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "Olympus would be that way."

As the elemental Titans turned around, now off in the right direction for their revenge, Loki snagged the last of them, a monstrous Cyclops.

"Ah, hold it, bright eye," Loki flew over, "I have a special task for you, my optic friend."

* * *

Darcy was in the middle of her mid-morning nap when the thunderous cries of "Thor! Kill Thor!" jolted her awake.

"Eh?" she glanced down below her cloud, to catch sight of...no. No freaking way. She adjusted her glasses, rubbing them to clear her vision, then scrambled to get up, " _Oh,_ we're in trouble, shit fuck,  _big_ trouble-"

Then she was off, flying as fast as her winged sandals would take her, through the clouds up to the very peak of Mt. Olympus. Odin was currently in Odinsleep, so Darcy shot straight for their best bet; Thor.

"Uh, hate to break up the festivities," Darcy winced as she crashed into the room. Lady Jane shot her a look that told her she should have knocked, but they had bigger problems, "But we've got some Titans at the gates, and they're not looking happy."

" _Titans?"_ Jane's eyes went wide; they were mere legend for her, after all. Thor, however, only steeled his shoulders with a dark look.

'Sound the alarm! Launch an immediate counter-attack," he ordered, gesticulating with clenched, furious fists, "Go, go!"

"Gone, babe," Darcy darted off, flitting through the clouds as she trilled the alarm.

At the sound, all of Olympus knew to prepare; Volstagg began crafting more of Thor's lightning bolts, Fandral snagged his bow, Hogun mounted his steed, and Sif raised her sword to lead the charge into battle.

Thor threw bolt after bolt at the Titans, but nothing seemed to slow them down. Stratos blew forward, sucking up the Olympians like a vacuum.

"Badda-boom, badda-boom," Loki cheered, watching from afar, "Ha  _ha!_ Take that, oh dearest  _brother_!"

Meanwhile, in Thebes, the Cyclops marched through the city. It's citizens screamed for Steve, sure that their hero would come to save them. Back at the stadium, Steve could hear their cries, hear the taunting of the Cyclops. He braced himself, squared his shoulders, and started down the stairs.

"What are you  _doing?"_ Tony was after him immediately, racing in front of him to block his way. He knew exactly what the hero was thinking, could see it in the lines of his face, the steel in his eyes, "Are you crazy? Without your strength, you'll be killed!"

"There are worse things," Steve's focus was solely on Tony for a brief, unflinching moment. There was pain and betrayal in his eyes, and Tony couldn't help but flinch. When he did, Steve lightly removed Tony's hand from him arm and moved past.

"Wait!" Tony chased after him, but Steve took off into a sprint for the city. Even weak as he was, he outpaced Tony as he made straight for the heart of the city.

"Thank the gods!" someone cried as they saw him approaching.

"We're saved!" called another.

"So," the Cyclops stomped forward, squatting down to look at Steve, "You mighty Steven?"

The Cyclops burst into laughter, poking at Steve with his grotesque, curled nails, his hearty laughter jiggling his flabby body. At the peak of his laughter he swung out, catching Steve in the chest and sending him flying off into the distance. Steve crashed into a billboard of himself, then careened to the ground.

Tony flinched away, unable to watch. Suddenly, he heard whinnying from behind him; that's right, Steve had that pegasus, didn't he? Tony raced to the stall door, throwing it open to find the pegasus, bound and gagged but throwing a violent tantrum about it nonetheless.

"Easy there, horsefeathers," Tony held up his hands in peace, "Phil, right? Whoa! Stop twitching and listen!"

But the pegasus didn't stop, kept bucking up and fighting him, even as Tony tried to free him. God damn it, he didn't have time for this!

"Hey!" Tony yanked the pegasus down, bringing him face to face with a deadly serious glare, "I said listen to me, Phil! Steve is in trouble, and you're going to take me to Nick so we can talk some sense into that damn idiot before he gets himself killed. Got it?"

Phil regarded Tony a moment with an unreadable look. Then, he ducked his head in a gesture that meant something along the lines of well, hurry up and untie me then. Tony did, and, with only a brief moment of fearful trepidation, hopped up on the pegasus. Phil took off at top speed, racing to get to the docks, Tony screaming bloody murder and gripping tightly the entire way.

The Titans were smashing their way through Olympus' front gates when Tony and Phil caught up with Nick, right at Thebes docks. He had one hoof on a boat when he heard Tony calling for him.

"Nick!" Phil flew right up next to Nick, and Tony reached out a hand, "Please, Nick, Steve needs your help."

"What's he need me for when he's got friends like you, huh?" Nick sneered.

"He won't listen to me," Tony shook his head, swallowing roughly.

"Good! He finally learned somethin'," Nick shot back.

Phil flew right front of Nick's face, challenging him with an aggressive snort. Nick seemed to second-guess himself a moment.

"Come on, hurry up!" the boat's captain called, "We're shovin' off, here!"

Nick turned away, though Tony didn't give up.

"Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Nick," Tony begged miserably, "He'll die."

* * *

In Thebes, Steve was getting his ass kicked.

He was beaten to a pulp. His skin shined was dotted with dark bruises, and blood was smeared across his face and clothes. His hands were cut and scraped, knuckles bleeding and torn. The Cyclops tossed him into a pillar, bruising, if not cracking, at least one of his ribs. He coughed, choking on the dust and unable to catch his breath.

"C'mon, kid!" suddenly Nick was descending, riding Phil into the fray, Tony at his back. They landed next to him, Nick at his shoulder with encouragements, Tony cautiously moving forward, "You can take this guy in your sleep, he's a bum, a pushover!"

Nick continued talking, but Steve only had eyes for Tony. Tony, who kneeled next to him, taking Steve's hand in his.

"Please, Steve…" Tony whispered, his voice rough, choked with grief. Though he didn't want to, though every part of him ached not to, Steve pulled his hand away.

"You were right all along, Nick," he spoke to Nick, but his eyes never left Tony's, "Dreams are for rookies."

"No, kid, I was wrong," Nick shook his head determinedly, "Giving up is for rookies. I came back cause I'm not quitting on you. I'm willing to go the distance; are you?"

"No!" Tony's shout echoed in Steve's ears, and he turned in time to see Tony diving for him.

The Cyclops snatched Steve away just before Tony could grab him, hoisting him into the air in his iron fist.

"Me bite off head!"

The Cyclops gave a loud belly laugh, but as the Cyclops raised him up, Steve caught sight of a pile of burning wood. He dove, arms just long enough to grab one of the flaming sticks, and swung back, throwing into right into the Cyclops eye. The Cyclops roared in pain and released Steve, who fell and crashed into a cart.

"Whoa, baby!" Nick and Phil cheered, "That's right, there ya go!"

Steve brushed himself off, and grabbed some of the rope from inside the cart, plan formulating. He dragged it towards the Cyclops, then dodged around the Cyclops' feet as he looped the rope around the giant beast's ankles. It toppled down, tripping and stumbling right off the cliff of Thebes. Steve gasped for air, pulling himself up to watch the Cyclops fall into the caverns below.

"Steve, look out-!"

That was all he heard before Tony was colliding with him, forcefully shoving him out of the way and into the rocks. Steve looked back, confused, and every drop of blood in his body turned to ice.

A column had collapsed, falling right where he would have been, right where Tony was now crushed. He was at the column before he could blink, his hands shaking as he strained to lift the column. Someone was screaming, something about  _no, Tony, no, you have to be okay, Tony, god, move, please_ and maybe that was him, because his throat was constricted and the blood was rushing to his head and all he could think was  _Tony has to be okay._

And he hated himself for not thinking about Tony's safety first, for not getting him out of here the second he showed up. For staying angry without letting Tony explain himself. For pulling his hand away.

God, he hated himself.

Suddenly there was a rush, a tingling under his skin, and the column began to budge. Encouraged and determined, Steve gave it all he had, the tingling becoming a full on explosion of electricity and strength as he lifted and threw the column to the side. He rushed to Tony's side, kneeling next to him and one hand cradling Tony's head, the other grasping his hand.

"How…" Tony coughed, his skin horribly, impossibly pale, "How did you…?"

"Loki's deal," Steve replied miserably, fingers tangling in Tony's hair, "He promised you wouldn't get hurt, but this, this wasn't worth that, would never be worth that. I would live a thousand lives without my strength to change this-"

"I know," Tony chuckled, a terribly quiet sound, "You're wonderboy, remember?"

"Tony,  _why_ ," Steve's heart ached, and it was physical pain in his chest, " _Why_  would you-"

"Oh, people always do crazy things," Tony gave a small, wistful smile, "When they're in love."

"Oh, Tony," Steve choked, his chest seizing up, "Tony, I, I-"

"Are you…" Tony winced briefly, a flash of pain crossing his face as he gripped his midsection, then the pain faded into a soft smile, "Always this articulate?"

Steve gave a ghost of a smile, leaning forward to kiss Tony, who shook his head.

"You…you're running out of time. But you can still stop Loki…" Tony murmured, eyes fluttering closed, "I know you can."

"He's right, you haven't got much time. Go, I'll watch over him," Nick nodded to Steve, bending down next to Tony.

"You're going to be alright, Tony," Steve whispered fiercely, pressing a soft kiss to Tony's forehead, "I promise."

Steve gave Tony's prone form one last, worried look, before mounting Phil and taking off for Mt. Olympus.

"Let's go, Phil!"

* * *

High on Mt. Olympus, things looked bleak. The skies were dark and stormy, and the gods were being led away in chains. Selvig and Clint led them, poking and prodding and generally taunting them. Thor was the last god standing, but he was out of thunderbolts.

Pyros and Hydros descended upon Thor then, combining their lava and ice to make a molten mountain of frozen rock, encasing Thor at the peak.

"Oh, brother dear, I'm home!" Loki sang, flying up next to Thor on his chariot with a smug smile.

"Loki?" Thor frowned as he struggled to break free, " _You're_ behind this?"

"Correct," Loki smirked, taking deep pleasure in looking into his brother's betrayed eyes as the molten rock covered Thor.

"I swear to dad, Loki, when I get out of this-!"

At last, Thor was buried completely.

"I'm the one giving orders now, bolt boy," Loki just sneered, conjuring himself a smoky throne to sit in, "And I think I'm going to like it here-"

"Don't get too comfortable, Loki!"

Loki startled; he knew that voice. He'd had that voice taken care.  _That was not a voice he should be hearing-_

He turned, rage manifesting itself in bright sparks of flame, as Steve descended into battle. He raced by the chained gods, slashing his sword and breaking their chains.

"This should even the odds!"

"Get them!" Loki ordered to the Titans, his flames jumping higher in his fury.

Pyros sent lava bursts after Steve, who dodged out of the way in the nick of time, letting the blasts accidentally soak Loki.

"Whoa, hey, no!" Loki snapped, shaking the lava off and pointing a curled finger at Steve angrily, "Him, not me, follow the finger, you clowns-!"

At that moment, Steve ducked and weaved to avoid an icy storm from Hydros, and it instead blasted Loki full force.

"The yutz with the horse, this is not that hard!"Loki spluttered from within the icy prison Hydros' freezing had cast him in.

While Loki was raging, Steve leapt off Phil's back and onto the stone block that encased Thor. He smashed and ripped it apart, releasing Thor in all his golden glory.

" _No!"_ Loki roared, his wrath becoming a crazy, frenzy of flames that leapt around him and shattered the ice that encased him.

"Thank you, brother," Thor laid a heavy hand on Steve's shoulder.

While Thor and Steve reunited, Phil caught sight of Clint and Selvig attempting to escape. Recognizing the little brats that had tricked him, he flew off after them. When they saw Phil coming, both their eyes widened and they scrambled faster to get away. Phil caught them, planting his back hooves on each of their tails, and gave them a deadly glare.

"Nice horsey!" Selvig whimpered.

"Please!" Clint begged, "My intentions were pure, I swear, I really was attracted to you!"

Phil just snorted, then used his front hooves to smack them both.

Volstagg, freed from his chains, had finished the latest batch of thunderbolts, and he now tossed them up to Thor.

"Hah! You have done a mighty good job, Steven, but now watch how your older brother does it!" Thor crowed, catching the lightning with a wide grin and sending it off with deadly accuracy at the Titans, who cowered away.

"What? No! Get your titanic rears in gear and get back here!" Loki fumed at the hastily retreating Titans.

Steve, seeing them retreat, grabbed Stratos by the tail end of his vortex and aimed him at the Titians, using him like a vacuum to suck up the others. He waved them all around his head a few more times, gaining speed, before he launched them into the sky, sending them far off into space.

"Nice moves!" Thor boomed, high-fiving Steve, "Now  _that's_  how it's done, brother!"

"Thanks a ton, wonderboy," Loki snarled, beating a hasty retreat of his own back to the underworld, "But at least I've a swell consolation prize; a friend of yours who's just  _dying_ to see me."

His blood turned to ice, and he urged Phil to go faster as he raced back to Thebes, faster, faster, faster; he couldn't be too late. It wasn't an option.

_Tony._

As he landed, as he leapt from Phil's back, all but tripping over his feet to get to Tony's side, he knew. He could see the pallor of his skin, the limp hand at his side, the finality in his closed eyes. The shake of Nick's head, even as he pushed past him to kneel at Tony's side.

"Tony," Steve choked out, lifting Tony's cold-far too cold, he was always so warm-body into his arms. He pressed a hand to Tony's cheek, his neck, his chest, searching for a heartbeat, a pulse, even just a drop of warmth.

There was nothing.

Tears pricked at Steve's eyes, and he pulled Tony closer to him as he quietly wept. After a moment Nick approached him, one hand resting tentatively on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, kid," Nick's voice, usually so brash and unapologetic, was gentle, "There's some things you just can't change."

Steve felt something tighten in his chest, and he laid Tony down before he let his fists clench. A determined courage filled him as he stood, turning to Nick, unashamed of the tears still fresh in his eyes.

"Yes, I can."

* * *

"We were  _so close!"_ Loki raged, sending an explosive fireball across his map of the cosmos. Clint and Selvig ducked out of the way as another went flying past their heads, "So close! And we tripped on the finish line! Why, oh  _why_ did we trip? Because that obnoxious little Tony had to go all  _noble!"_

The room was in tatters now, all ash and burning flame, products of Loki's tantrum. There was a rumbling just then, and Loki froze. Thor wouldn't come stomping down here for a rematch, would he?

"Where's Tony?" Steve demanded, bursting through the cave wall atop Cerberus' largest head.

Loki gave a brief eyebrow raise at his pet; get a Cerebus, they said. It'll keep everyone out, they said.

"They forgot to mention pissed off demi-gods with a crush," Loki grumbled to himself, "Oh, look who's here. Wonderboy, you are just too much."

"Don't you call me that!" Steve snarled viciously, jumping from Cerebus to grasp Loki tight by the front of his shirt, his voice low and demanding, "Let. Him. Go."

"Get a grip," Loki waved an unconcerned hand, "Come, let me show you something."

Loki led Steve into a room to the side, showing him a vast, shining green river, filled with hundreds of thousands of drowning souls.

"It's a small underworld after all, eh?" Loki chuckled.

They walked right up to the shores of it, souls passing by as Steve watched. Then Steve caught sight of Tony, his faded, ethereal soul slipping by.

"Tony!" Steve dove forward, reaching into the river to pull him back.

The river hissed and his skin tingled; surprised, he pulled back to find that his skin had withered away, shrunk and shriveled into that of an old man's. He'd only touched the water briefly, so his skin restored itself, but Loki chuckled all the same.

"Ah ah ah, musn't touch. You see, your little darling is running with a new crowd these days, and not a very lively one."

"You like making deals," Steve turned to Loki, steel in his eyes, "Take me in his place."

"Huh," Loki paused, a slight frown, clearly not having expected that, "The brother of my hated rival trapped forever in a river of death…"

"Going once."

"Is there a downside to this?" Loki thought aloud curiously, tapping a finger against his chin.

"Going twice!"

"Hey, hey, slow it down there, hot shot. It's a deal; you get him out, he goes, you stay."

Steve nodded, satisfied. He examined the river briefly, and, upon catching sight of Tony once again, dove in without hesitation.

"Oh, you know what slipped my mind?" Loki mused with a grin, "You'll be dead before you ever reach him. That's not a problem, is it?"

Steve swam on, not hearing or caring about Loki's words. As he swam he aged, his bones turning frail and skin growing gaunt. His broad strokes forward became struggles as he inched his way closer and closer, hand outstretched.

Elsewhere in the underworld, the Other laid out Steve thread of life. Thanos reached forward and, just before Steve could grasp Tony's hand, snipped his scissors.

Instead of slicing clean, however, the scissors bounced and bent, the thread glowing strong.

"The thread…it won't cut."

As Loki watched in horror, a young, golden hand reached out from the depths. Steve stepped forward, young and healthy and alive as ever, Tony's spirit in his arms. Loki spluttered, completely flabbergasted.

"This…impossible! You, you can't be  _alive,_ you'd have to be a…"

"A god?" Clint and Selvig murmured in wonder together.

Steve's skin glowed bright, with strength and invulnerability. He walked past Loki without a word or a glance.

"Hey, whoa, Steven, stop!" Loki scrambled after him, "You can't do this to me, you can't just-"

Steve turned, and with one mighty fist, punched Loki in the face. There was a loud crack as nose snapped and his cheekbones broke, and the fire above Loki's head briefly went out. After a few seconds his face popped back to it's normal configuration, and Loki smoothed his hair back again. He chased after Steve, still talking.

"Fine, okay, listen, I deserved that. Steve, Steve, buddy, can we talk? Your brother, he's a fun guy, right? So maybe you could put in a word or two with him, and he might blow this whole thing off, you know?"

Loki kept talking and chasing after Steve, trying to wheedle his way out of the whole takeover mess.

Then, Loki made a very big mistake.

"Tony, Tones, talk to him, schmooze the guy a little-"

Loki made to put a hand on Tony's arm, and Steve whirled back, blindsiding Loki with a swift, furious punch that sent Loki flying back into the river of souls. They grabbed him, pleading and begging and moaning at him, trying to pull him back under the water with them.

"Whoa! Get away from me! Don't touch me you mortals, get your slimy souls off me!"

While Loki drowned and Steve walked away without looking back, Clint and Selvig watched Loki drown.

"He's not going to be happy when he gets out of there," Selvig sighed, a worried frown on his face.

"You mean,  _if_ he gets out of there," Clint corrected with a grin.

"If," Selvig nodded back, "If is good."

* * *

Back in Thebes, Steve approached Nick and Phil. They parted to watch in awe as he knelt down, replaced Tony's soul within his body. He didn't dare so much as breathe, but only a brief second passed before Tony's pale skin flushed, tan and a bit pink, his dark brown eyes flickering open.

The first thing Tony saw was Steve's face, smiling widely and brighter than ever-no, seriously, was he glowing?

"Wonderboy," Tony smiled back, a bit breathless, "So, the…the glowing thing is new. How did you…?"

"Well," Steve took Tony's hand, helping him stand up, "You know what they say. People always do crazy things, when they're in love."

Tony blinked back surprise, and it was clear on his face that he hadn't expected Steve to return the sentiment. Which was silly, Steve thought, because how could he not? Steve put a hand carefully on Tony's waist, pulling him in for a kiss, when a thunderbolt struck at his feet.

Tony stumbled a bit as clouds swirled around their feet, but Steve caught him, earning himself Tony's arms around his neck. Steve wrapped both hands around Tony's waist protectively, holding him protectively close as they flew up to Olympus. Nick hopped on Phil, following quickly after them.

They flew up through the clouds and into Olympus, where the golden gates shone brightly and a crowd of gods awaited. Steve extended a hand to help Tony off the cloud when they landed, and Tony took it with a smile.

"Three cheers for Steven!" Sif called out.

"Oh yeah, let's hear it!" Darcy wolf-whistled, throwing flowers everywhere, "Three cheers for muscles, and flowers for everybody!"

Steve caught sight of Thor at the peak of the stairs, who gestured for him to come forward. He looked back at Tony, who only smiled and gave him a light shove in the right direction. Steve smiled back, squeezed Tony's hand before letting it go to join his family.

"Oh, Steven," Frigga, his mother, murmured softly. She was the first to greet him, and there were tears in her eyes as she embraced him, "We're so proud of you."

"Mother," Steve hugged her back, the word alone giving him a warm, happy feeling of belonging.

"My son," Odin was next, embracing him as well, "What a fine young man you've turned out to be."

"Father," Steve nodded, but before he could say another word to either of them, he was pulled into someone else's bone-crushing hug.

"Hah! A mighty warrior you are indeed, Steven, you've done it at last!" Thor praised him, hugging Steve hard enough to lift him off his feet, "You, my brother, are a true hero!"

"You were willing to give your life to rescue this young man," Frigga inclined her head to Tony, who carefully studied his feet.

"For a true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength," Thor gave Steve a friendly punch in the chest that left him winded, then spread his fingers out, his hand eclipsed over Steve's heart, "But by the strength of his heart."

"At last, my son," Odin looked to him proudly, "You may come home."

He waved a hand, and the gates to Mt. Olympus swung open. The gods rushed him, hugging and cheering and patting him on the back. It was a blur of colors and gods and cheering-he was pretty sure the Darcy one grabbed his ass at some point-and it was almost overwhelming.

Tony watched from the bottom of the stairs, a wistful smile on his face.

"Congratulations, wonderboy," Tony murmured, giving Steve's back one last, longing look before walking back to the cloud that had brought them here, "You'll make one hell of a god."

Steve turned then, looking for Tony in the crowd, and catching sight of him leaving.

"Father," Steve spoke up, and everyone went silent, "This is the moment I've always dreamed of. But…"

He was down the stairs in a moment, catching Tony's hand and pulling him back. Tony looked at him with such wonder and surprise, so shocked that Steve would go back for him, it made Steve's heart hurt. He would always go back for Tony.

"A life without Tony, even an immortal life, would be empty," he was still speaking to his father, but his eyes never left Tony's as he brushed a hand across Tony's cheek, taking him in his arms, "I wish to stay on Earth, with him."

Odin looked confused, Thor a bit disappointed; it was Frigga who nodded serenely with a smile, as if she'd known all along.

Steve leaned in, pressing his lips softly to Tony's. His godly glow faded as he did, but he couldn't bring himself to mind. There was a brief pause where he was worried he'd broken Tony, who wasn't responding, but then Tony's arms were around his neck and yanking him forward fiercely, teeth clashing and tongues battling and Tony was on his tiptoes to give Steve all he had.

"There ya go, get some!" Darcy whistled.

They returned to Earth then, all of Thebes cheering at their arrival. Steve's adoptive parents rushed forth from the crowd to greet him, and Tony squeezed Steve's hand.

"Look," he pointed to the stars.

Somewhere up above Thor was waving his hands, and the stars aligned in a new way, rearranging themselves in Steven's image.

"That's Nick's boy!" someone pointed out.

Nick watched the stars with wide eyes, choking back what he would forever deny were tears. Steve just grabbed him, tugging him and Tony and Phil into a grateful hug.

He finally knew where he belonged.

" _Now_ that,"  _Maria smirked to Jasper, "Is how you tell a story."_


End file.
